It’s no secret that parking is one of the biggest issues in the Philippines. It can cause inconvenience for other drivers, homeowners, pedestrians — pretty much everyone.

More and more people buy cars without a proper car park in their homes; drivers abruptly stop in busy streets leaving their cars blocking traffic, and more reasons why the Philippines have fairly strict illegal parking laws.

It goes without saying that there are areas where it is illegal to park your vehicles — places that you should’ve already known before you got your driver’s license.

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But in case you already forgot, we’re discussing the illegal parking policies in the Philippines. This includes the locations and areas where you shouldn’t park, as well as the fines and consequences you might face.

Table of Contents

Areas where it’s illegal to park in the Philippines

Here are the places where you shouldn’t park your vehicle and some of the reasons why you shouldn’t.

  • Roadside with a ‘No Parking’ sign
  • Private roads with parking rules
  • Blocking a driveway
  • At or inside an intersection
  • Double parking or on the driver side of a parked vehicle
  • Vicinity of footbridges
  • All major national roads
  • At least 4 meters from a fire hydrant
  • At least 4 meters from a fire station entrance
  • At least 6 meters from the intersection of curb lines

Parking/blocking a driveway

Possibly one of the most annoying and dangerous things a driver can do is park in front of someone’s driveway.

When a car is blocked, it’ll be a burden for the homeowners to get in and out of their houses, especially with their own vehicles. What’s worse, it could also potentially lead to a life-or-death situation in times of emergencies.

Parking on sidewalks

Having your car blocking sidewalks means that pedestrians are obstructed from using them, putting them in danger from oncoming traffic.

Parking in Residential Areas

One major rule of the Illegal Parking Policy is to not leave your car on private roads, which include most residential areas that have their own rules and regulations. If you can, ask the homeowner association or the community security guard for permission when parking.

Be cautious when parking in an unfamiliar community and be sure to not block driveways or double park, which could easily block narrow roads.

Related

Illegal parking fines and penalties

The penalty or fine you’d get from illegal parking will depend on how grave your violation is, where did you commit it, and the rules and regulations of the LGU or the private community you committed it on. We’ve listed the possible consequences you might face when illegally parking.

Demerit points

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Depending on the apprehending officer or the circumstances of the violation, you might only get a demerit point on your driver’s license as a penalty.

This means that you don’t have to settle and pay any fine. On the downside, you will not be egible for a 10-year license when you renew.

Fines

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The Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has set the standard fines for illegal parking:

  • Php200 to Php1,000 for Attended Illegal Parking which involves illegally parking with the driver still in the vehicle.
  • Php150 to Php1,000 for Obstruction or for those who parked their vehicles on the side of the road or sidewalk without authority.
  • Php500 to Php1,000 for Unattended Illegal Parking for those who left their vehicle without a driver inside.

Clamping

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Something that we’re seeing more and more lately. One of the goals of clamping is to push violators to attend to their ticket violation and settle it right away. Otherwise, they won’t be able take your car home. In some cases, it might even be towed.

This can be resolved by paying a fine. The exact amount will depend on the rules and regulations of the LGU or the national government unit that’s behind the clamping. The fine is usually around Php1,000.

Towing and impounding

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This one is quite extreme, but if the authority needs to urgently remove an illegally parked vehicle on the road, they will tow and impound it. Some LGUs even allow its citizens to call an LGU-approved towing service to remove a vehicle blocking their driveways or parking.

As you already know, paying the fine for a towed and impounded car is a pain both in the head and the wallet. First, you have to pay for the violation:

  • Php1,000 for attended vehicles
  • Php2,000 for unattended vehicles
  • Php1,000 for obstruction

Afterward, you have to pay the towing fee, which will cost depending on the type of the vehicle and how far it was driven to the impounding area:

  • Light vehicles (less than 4,500kg): Php1,500 for the first 4km, additional Php200 per succeeding km.
  • Medium vehicles (4,501kg to 7,500kg): Php2,500 for the first 4km, additional Php200 per succeeding km.
  • Heavy vehicles (7,501kg and above): Php4,500 for the first 4km, additional Php200 per succeeding km.

These are the things you should know about Illegal Parking Violations in the Philippines. The bottom line is, don’t park anywhere that may inconvenience, disrupt, or violate the privacy of people and you should be good.

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