No, You Can’t Reserve A Parking Spot By Standing On It

A video, which has been uploaded by Mari Giannina Farica Buenaventura, has recently gone viral all over social media. As of this writing, the video has garnered over 8,500 reactions, 3,700 comments, and 7,200 shares. The video shows a man who is trying to save a parking spot by standing on it. This isn’t anything new. In fact, all of these have resulted in heated arguments. Let us be clear, you can’t reserve a parking spot by standing on it unless you are a walking pylon yourself.

Parking etiquette dictates that unless stated otherwise, parking spots are a first-come-first-served basis. The only action that would prevent a heated argument from escalating to something uncontrollable is to not be a douche. It doesn’t make you look cool.

However, when caught in a heated argument, do not even try to take revenge by hitting the person with your vehicle. By then, it becomes an assault and the law will now be against your favor. Likewise, if the person who stood there loses the argument and takes revenge by doing any form of damage to your personal vehicle, the law will also be against that person’s favor.

Now, you might be asking whether a law is enforced for making such acts illegal. Unfortunately, there isn’t any, at least here in the Philippines. Some malls, however, such as SM City Iloilo, have restricted people from acting as human pylons and reserving a parking spot by standing on it.

However, it is illegal in some cities in the US. According to Now 97.7, placing an object like a pylon to reserve a parking spot is illegal in New York City. Doing such an offense will incur a fine of up to US$2,000 (around P100,000).

More interesting is Malaysia, where it is explicitly stated that reserving a parking spot by standing on it is illegal. According to Paultan.org, it is a violation of Section 50 (3) of the Road Transport Act 1987. The rule states:

“If any person, otherwise than with lawful authority, remains on any road or at any parking place for the purpose of importuning any other person in respect of the watching or cleaning of a motor vehicle, or for the purpose of directing any driver of a motor vehicle in respect of parking on such road or at such place, he shall be guilty of an offence.”

To the senators who will win the midterm elections, we hope that a similar law will be enacted here in the Philippines. This form of action has been spreading like wildfire in parking lots across the country. With a law firmly declaring this an offense, we bet that there will be fewer people who will be doing such a stupid act.