BAGUIO CITY – The city government is planning to charge a certain fee on tourists whose vehicles add to worsening traffic problems in the Summer Capital.
Under the proposed ordinance, the tourists will be asked to pay 'congestion fee,' as a way to regulate traffic congestion in the city.
The congestion fee ordinance was first introduced in 2019 and it was authored by Councilor Leandro Yangot, Jr.
Now the city council is giving strong considerations to reviving the ordinance which has been approved already in the first reading.
The bill seeks to impose a congestion charge on all tourists who bring their private vehicles in the city.
Under the proposed measure, all visiting vehicle owners or drivers will pay P50.00 upon entering the city.
Baguio City residents are exempted from the ordinance.
Yangot said one of the amendments that he may introduce in the next version of the proposal is the exemption of citizens from La Trinidad - Itogon - Sablan - Tuba - Tublay (LISTT) areas or even all parts of the Cordillera region.
Yangot said the proposed measure aims to "alleviate the worsening traffic problem in the city."
He said, currently, traffic is one of the problems that residents often complain about.
According to Yangot, the imposition of the congestion fee is a way to regulate the entry of visitor vehicles into the city.
According to him, all collected payments should be deposited in the trust fund for use in programs and activities to alleviate traffic congestion in the city.
The City Treasury Office is tasked with formulating guidelines and monitoring the implementation of ordinances.
The proposed ordinance was referred to the Sanggunian's Committee on Appropriations and Finance for review.