As part of its efforts in ensuring the smooth flow of traffic in the city and to discourage illegal parking, the San Juan City local government launched its wheel clamping ordinance on Tuesday, April 11. It also signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with Starpay that will allow violators to immediately and conveniently pay their fines online. San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora led the clamping operation which started along Club Filipino Avenue in Greenhills and moved to other streets in the area including Annapolis and Missouri, before proceeding to other Mabuhay Lanes and city streets. Zamora said the road clearing operation followed the amendments made on the San Juan City Wheel Clamping Ordinance (C.O. No. 70, Series of 2022) and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Resolution No. 10, Series of 2010, wherein vehicles that are illegally parked along Mabuhay Lanes and city roads in the city will be clamped by the authorities. “Ito po ay base sa rekomendasyon ng ating mga barangay at aprubado na ng ating Sangguniang Panlungsod. Ito ay ating ipapatupad dahil napakahalaga nito lalo na kung may emergency tulad ng sunog (This is based on the recommendation of our barangays and approved by the Sangguniang Panlungsod. This operation is being implemented because of its importance times of emergency such as fires)," Zamora said. “Dahil nasa gitna rin po ng Metro Manila ang San Juan, ang mga sasakyan ay passing through lamang, meaning ay mataas ang transient vehicles kung kaya’t kinakailangan ipatupad ang ordinance upang maging deterrent sa mga motorista. Gusto natin magkaroon ng disiplina ang ating mga motorista (Because San Juan is in the middle of Metro Manila, most of the motorists are just passing through  which means that there is a high rate of transient vehicles in the area. This highlights the importance of the ordinance to serve as a deterrent to motorists. We want our motorists to practice discipline)," he added. Apprehended vehicle owners, drivers, and operators will be slapped with the following fines - Motorcycles - P500, cars/AUV/AUV/jeepneys - P1,500, and cargo trucks, delivery vans, and passenger buses - P2,000. Offenders attempting to remove or destroy the wheel clamp will be fined P5,000. Public emergency vehicles such as fire trucks, police mobiles, and ambulances are exempted from clamping.

Online payment

Zamora explained that violators of the clamping ordinance may immediately pay their fines to the City Treasury via online transaction by scanning a QR Code via Starpay and may show their proof of payment to city traffic enforcers so that the clamps on their vehicles will be immediately removed. The mayor noted that all major banks and e-wallet platforms may be used to pay the fines online through Starpay and the QRPH Standard and stressed that this new method of paying fines will be a big convenience to motorists as they will no longer need to go to the city hall to pay their fines. Apprehended vehicle owners will simply need to scan the QR Code presented by the enforcer using their preferred banking or e-wallet application to settle their payments with ease, providing additional convenience as well to the enforcer who will not handle cash transactions anymore. “Meron na pong QR code ang ating mga enforcers, para isa-scan na lang po ito kung may mahuli po pag magbabayad na po sila ng pag-unclamp. Once they scan the QR code, input lang po ang ibabayad na violation plus the convenience fee and input ang purpose kung bakit nagbabayad sa city. The great thing about this is they can use Starpay or ibang e-wallet, gagana po ito. Sa Starpay it’s P25.00 convenience fee so it saves you sa parking, gas, having to go to city hall. For other e-wallets, it’s P50.00 (The enforcers will have a QR code on which violators can scan for them to be able to pay their fines. Once they scan the QR code, they just have to input the fine for the violation plus the convenience fee as well as the purpose as to why they have to pay the city. The great thing about this is they can use Starpay or other e-wallets. In Starpay it’s P25 convenience fee so it saves you parking, gas, having to go to city hall. For other e-wallets, it’s P50)," Starpay Product Head Ryan Uy explained. Unpaid fines of clamped vehicles within the five-hour grace period will then be towed by the city or the MMDA. Zamora told motorists “You will not be clamped if you are not illegally parked or violating the ordinance. Sisiguraduhin din natin na maayos ang pag-implementa ng ordinance (We will make sure that the implementation of the ordinance is right)."