A former city councilor is questioning the authority of a private firm to receive towing fine payments and is asking the Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod to suspend renewal of its accreditation.
Former Councilor Archie Baribar, in a letter to the Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod, said on December 15 his family car was towed.
“We were able to retrieve it only after payment of the required fine of P2,100 to Metro Towing Services,” he said.
He noted that Metro Towing Services, a single proprietorship of Francis Anthony Desales, was authorized to receive fines under City Ordinance 09-17818 as amended because of its Memorandum of Agreement with the city government on November 13.
“We believe it is highly irregular for a private person to receive fines defined by a City Ordinance, without having observed the provisions of RA 9184 (An Act Providing for the Modernization, Standardization and Regulation of the Procurement Activities of the Government and for other Purposes,“ he said.
Baribar requested the SP to suspend renewal of the accreditation of Metro Towing Services and/or desist from the automatic renewal of the agreement until the required bidding for contract of services is conducted.
“We need not restate that a mere Memorandum of Agreement is insufficient to allow a private person to receive fines,” he said.
The SP is studying the request of Baribar.*