No matter how affluent you are in the Philippines, even if you’re a lawyer, in Manila no one is above traffic. For every major road, the baseline expectation is that it is traffic. Aside from traffic, another aspect of the road that no one is above is parking. In as much as driving a car in certain way can get you in trouble, stopping in a certain way can also earn you a ticket.
First, where is parking illegal? Here are general rules on where parking SHOULD intuitively be avoided.
- An intersection
- In front of a driveway
- Double Parking next to another stopped car
- Crosswalk and vicinity of a footbridge
- On a sidewalk
- All major roads and highways
- 4 meters of a fire hydrant and entrance of a fire station, 6 meters of curb lines
- Anywhere where there is a NO PARKING warning
Another more micro-subjective aspect of parking is laws in smaller units of governance like individual cities or barangays. While some barangays have NO PARKING signs put up exactly where it’s supposed to be illegal to park, other may implement laws like total non-parking on any road (you may only park in garages) and you can get clamped by local authorities for that that not even your lawyer in Manila can talk you free from. The same goes for regulations within private residential areas. General rule: if you are unsure. In some places like San Lorenzo Street in Makati, you can park on the street but for a fee and within a 3 hours limit.
Is it ok to park in front of your own driveway? In theory, you are not inconveniencing anyone but depending on how stiff enforcement is in a certain area, you might get ticketed for obstructing your own driveway or sidewalk.
So there you have it: you don’t need a lawyer in Manila to remind you how not to park; where you can and cannot park is pretty blunt and straight forward. Just always be thinking “will parking here cause someone else, on vehicle or on foot, any degree of inconvenience? If so, think twice. At any opportunity, pay for a legitimate parking spot instead of going rogue on where to park because you could be fined from P200 to P2000 depending on the violation anyway.
Lawyering in the Philippines 