TIJUANA.- On March 05, 2015, approximately 600 residents of the sixteen neighborhoods located along the highway south of the Playas de Tijuana toll booth gathered together at a meeting at Real del Mar to sign three separate petitions that will be sent to federal legislators, federal administrative bodies, and the executive branch requesting that residents along this stretch of highway be exempt from the toll booth charges.
On February 12th, the House of Representatives of Mexico approved a resolution that would force federal highways that charge a toll to establish toll exemptions or discounted rates to residents. This resolution, if passed by the Senate, would benefit this movement, which is why the residents signed a petition to be sent to legislators before the bill is put to a vote. A separate petition is to be sent to the Federal Executive branch so that they may decree an exemption of payment of the Playas de Tijuana toll booth, because similar petitions have resulted in the exemption in other places such as along the La Rumorosa highway in Mexicali, and at a toll booth located in the state of Campeche.
The group intends to exhaust all administrative processes, such as the three petitions, before proceeding with a formal legal process. According to Octavio de la Torre de Steffano, the attorney advising the group, if the petitions fail, the group will move forward with what is called a Legislative Omission Amparo. The legal strategy then would be to have the toll booth charge deemed unconstitutional given that it has not been adapted to comply with conventions, specifically as it relates to freedom of movement. Recent legal case law has established that the authorities comply with the basic tenants of human rights. In the Playas de Tijuana case, freedom of movement of residents from one part of the city to the next is impeded, and no free alternatives exist.
The meeting was organized on behalf of the more than twelve thousand residents who live in the area who have had to pay a toll to travel to and from their homes, work, and school for the past thirty plus years. The movement does not intend to eliminate the toll booth altogether, but rather to exempt qualified Tijuana residents from this onerous fee. The initiative is not associated with any political party, but has been a grassroots uprising by residents fed up with paying excessive fees just to travel within their own community.
Those residents who did not sign the three petitions, are being asked to sign them by no later than this Friday, March 13, 2015 at any of the following locations. The three petitions can be signed at the San Antonio del Mar Homeowners Association Office, located at the south entrance near the guard booth, or at the office of TLC Asociados, located in Plaza Platino on Blvd. Sanchez Taboada, 1st Floor (located in front of Pampas Restaurant).
[p]Also, on Saturday, March 14th, a representative will be located at Hacienda de Real Restaurant in Real del Mar from 9am to 1pm to collect the final signatures on the three petitions.
At these locations, qualified residents will receive further information concerning which documents should be submitted if the petitions are not successful.
In the meantime, the group is simultaneously working on the the legal amparo which would need to be filed if the petitions fail. The organizers are asking for residents to submit documents by no later than March 27, 2015.
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For more information, call (664) 634-0189 and/or follow the Facebook group "No al cobro para residentes en la caseta de cuota de Playas de Tijuana".
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