FOUR transport groups have asked the Supreme Court to stop the implementation of the no-contact apprehension policy (NCAP) by five local governments in Metro Manila.
SC spokesperson Brian Keith Hosaka yesterday said a petition for certiorari with application for a temporary restraining order was filed with the tribunal last August 3 by transport groups Kilusan sa Pagbabago ng Industriya ng Transportasyon Inc., Pasang Masda, Alliance of Concerned Transport Operators, and Altodap against the city governments of Manila, Quezon City, Valenzuela, Paranaque and Muntinlupa.
Also included as respondent in the petition is the Land Transportation Office.
“The petition is questioning several local ordinances with regard to the implementation of the ‘no contact apprehension program,’” Hosaka said.
He said the SC has “required the respondents to file their respective comments to the said petition and application for TRO within a non-extendible period of 10 days from receipt of the written notice from the Court.”
In seeking the High Court’s intervention, the petitioners said the no-contact apprehension policy is “unconstitutional” as it did not give due process to motorists.
They argued that motorists were “under constant threat of being arbitrarily apprehended remotely and issued notices of violation for alleged traffic offenses committed without any contact whatsoever.”
The NCAP utilizes CCTV and digital cameras to identify and apprehend traffic violators through videos and images captured of their violation.
A similar policy was implemented by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority during the time of chairperson Bayani Fernando but bus operators sued and managed to get a ruling from the Makati City Regional Trial Court stopping its implementation.
Despite the complaints of transport operators, an MMDA official said the NCAP must be implemented nationwide.
“It would be better if this would be implemented nationwide. All cities need to have it so there would be uniform implementation,” MMDA Task Force Special Operations chief Bong Nebrija said.
However, Nebrija added all stakeholders must be consulted before the policy can be implemented nationwide.
Earlier, Land Transportation Office chief Teofilo Guadez III said the NCAP appears to be flawed since it held the vehicle owners, not the drivers, liable for any traffic violation.
Guadez said his office has received complaints from public utility vehicle operators who were made to pay the fine instead of the one driving the vehicle at the time of the traffic violation.
Nebrija said the MMDA is ready to work with other government agencies to ensure the efficient and orderly implementation of the NCAP.
Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert “Ace” Barbers has asked the House of Representatives to investigate the NCAP after his office received multiple complaints, primarily from motorcycle delivery riders, of excessive fines levied without due process.
