5 Metro Manila mayors stand firm on no-contact apprehension policy

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FIVE Metro Manila mayors yesterday refused to budge on their stand on the controversial no-contact traffic apprehension policy (NCAP) despite a petition by four transport groups asking the Supreme Court to stop its implementation for being unconstitutional.

A lawyer — Juman Paa — has filed a similar petition before the SC challenging the implementation of the NCAP in Manila.

The SC has yet to act on their petitions for the issuance of a temporary restraining order.

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Land Transportation Office Chief Teofilo Guadiz III has also called on local government units to temporarily suspend the NCAP in the absence of clearer and uniform guidelines.

In a joint statement, Valenzuela City Mayor Wes Gatchalian, Parañaque City Mayor Eric Oliverez, Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte, Manila Mayor Maria Sheilah “Honey” Lacuna-Pangan, and San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora said they will continue to implement the NCAP, adding the advancement of technology is “inevitable” and that it should be “embraced” to achieve progress and development of the country.

They noted the pronouncement of President Marcos Jr. in his first State of the Nation Address wherein he emphasized that the government should “digitize and make its services accessible for a more efficient governance.”

Earlier, four transport groups — Kilusan sa Pagbabago ng Industriya ng Transportasyon Inc., Pasang Masda, Alliance of Concerned Transport Operators and Altodap — asked the SC to declare as unconstitutional the NCAP. Also included as respondent in the petition is the LTO.
The mayors added that Marcos, in his SONA, urged LGUs to get into more proactive and beneficial joint ventures and Public – Private Partnerships for initiatives where they don’t have the necessary funding.

“With this in mind, we, the undersigned local chief executives have joined together on a common stance to continue the implementation of NCAP within our respective territorial jurisdictions and vow to continuously improve the infrastructure and road conditions foreseeing the need for a safer environment for our constituents,” the mayors said.

They added similar traffic innovations are already being implemented in the United States, Singapore, Korea, India, and Malaysia.

The mayors said the NCAP implementation “resulted in” the “minimization of human intervention in traffic enforcement” and helped eliminate corruption, created a culture of discipline among motorists, and ensured road safety by reducing traffic violations.

They also dismissed criticisms that they did not consult with stakeholders prior to the NCAP implementation.

“The implementation of the NCAP never disregarded motorists’ due process since each local government unit has their respective traffic adjudication boards where motorists can contest and file protests or appeals,” they said.

The NCAP utilizes CCTV and digital cameras to identify and apprehend traffic violators through videos and images captured of their violation.

Once a violation is detected, the MMDA or the LGU concerned issus traffic citation tickets and mail them directly to the vehicle’s registered owners.

Non-payment of fines within seven days means their vehicles will not be accommodated for re-registration.

A similar policy was implemented by the MMDA during the time of agency chairperson Bayani Fernando but bus operators sued and managed to get a ruling from the Makati City Regional Trial Court stopping its implementation.

‘TRIAL PERIOD’

Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito yesterday urged LGUs in Metro Manila to allow a “trial period” for the NCAP until the end of the year so the system can be perfected.

Ejercito, chair of the Senate committee on local government and a former mayor of San Juan, said the trial period will give the LGUs a chance to iron out the kinks and problems.

Ejercito said he is not against the NCAP but added the glitches should be ironed out first since fines may be too much for some motorists like motorcycle couriers. He added that emergency situations should also be considered.

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“Being a former mayor, I do understand also that they want to improve everything in their city to have an order… but I’m hoping that there will be a compromise,” Ejercito told ANC.

“I’m hoping that probably until the end of the year, trial period muna then try to remove the glitches, resolve the issues, the situations–consider situations, abnormal situations and then probably next year we can already implement this when everybody thinks that this is already acceptable and reasonable,” he added.

Ejercito said the LGUs, government authorities, and various stakeholders should hold a dialogue so they can come up with a win-win solution on the implementation of NCAP.

“Ako naman, if you can resolve everything, you don’t have to take it to court. Probably, the transport groups, the LGUs, through the MMDA can probably discuss this and have a compromise,” he said.

Mayor Francis Zamora said they are still installing cameras and other equipment in preparation for implementing the NCAP in San Juan but added they are open to suggestions.

“We are open to listening to the LTO and the different sectors and we are open as well to amending any existing provisions for a better and smoother implementation of the NCAP in our city,” Zamora said.

LAWYER SLAMS NCAP

Lawyer Juman Paa asked the SC to halt the enforcement of Ordinance No. 8676 passed in 2020 by the Manila City Council implementing the NCAP in the city.

In his petition, Paa said he was supposed to register his vehicle last June with the Land Transportation Office in La Loma, Quezon City but was told he needed to first pay fines amounting to P20,000.

The fines were based on four citation tickets for obstruction of the pedestrian lane where he was charged P2,000 for the first offense, and P3,000 and P4,000 for the second, third and fourth offenses, plus surcharges.

Paa said he paid the fines and the corresponding surcharges even though he did not receive any notice of violation from Manila traffic authorities. He said the ticket violations were not sent to his residence in Manila but rather to his office in Taguig.

Paa said laws pertaining to motor vehicle registration with the LTO does not require payment of penalty for violation of the NCAP as a condition for registration.

“Having received the notices of violation on July 1, 2022, it is the height of unreasonableness to expect that petitioner could remember and iterate specific circumstances surrounding the alleged traffic violations captured in 2021, to support a meaningful defense or protest,” he said.

Paa also assailed the “unreasonably higher” fines compared to what the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority and the LTO are charging. The MMDA and LTO only impose a P1,000 fine for the same traffic violation regardless of how many times it had been previously committed.

Paa also claimed the NCAP ordinance violates the right to privacy, saying anybody who enters the plate number of a vehicle on Manila’s traffic website will be able to see the number of traffic violations committed, including personal details such as the name of the vehicle owner, address and details of the vehicle.

“The lack of security protocols in the NCAP website in the city of Manila places the registered owner in a maligning and humiliating situation. Worse, it can be used by criminals who might pose as public officers and threaten the vehicle owners with their NCAP violations which would result to extortion or corruption,” he said. — With Raymond Africa and Christian Oineza

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