The lifting of the no-contact apprehension policy (NCAP) has emboldened motorists and car owners to violate traffic rules and ordinances, according to the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA).
On Wednesday, the MMDA recorded at least 249 vehicles violating traffic rules in the absence of traffic enforces.
MMDA officials clarified however, that they will not penalize the violators, adding that they were just monitoring the traffic situation for record purposes.
MMDA chief information officer Sharon Gentalian said the agency’s Metrobase caught 59 violators Thursday morning and 190 in the afternoon.
This after the MMDA suspended temporarily the implementation of the NCAP in compliance with the recent Supreme Court’s temporary restraining order (TRO) against the scheme. The NCAP involves the use of high definition closed circuit television cameras installed on major thoroughfares to detect traffic law violators.
MMDA spokesman and chief legal officer Crisanto Saruca Jr. said they are now deploying more traffic enforcers to go after errant motorists in the areas where the NCAP cameras are situated.
These areas included Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon Avenue, Roxas Boulevard, Circumferential Road – 5 (C-5), and Macapagal Boulevard.
The MMDA had enforced NCAP on the basis of Resolution 16-01 which became effective in 2016.
It stated that compared to local government units in the National Capital Region that implement it, the MMDA NCAP is in-house and the CCTV cameras are owned by the MMDA. There are also no third party service providers operating it.
The fines or penalties imposed by the MMDA on violators are also lower compared to the LGUs, but the MMDA respects their autonomy and power to enforce their own traffic ordinances on the roads under their jurisdiction.
The MMDA stated that NCAP has been effective in detecting illegally parked vehicles and other traffic violations with the use of CCTVs, digital cameras and other handheld devices.
Infrawatch PH convenor Terry Ridon backed the MMDA, adding that the NVAP has effectively removed ground-level corruption in the streets and have raised the dignity of traffic enforcers.
“With the suspension of the program by various local government units, drivers who wantonly violate traffic rules will once again lord it over our streets, and traffic enforcers who have fleeced hapless motorists in street corners will return.”
“Both of these concerns have been adequately addressed by the NCAP in the nation’s largest cities. With the TRO, we are more than certain that the evils sought to be avoided by implementing new technology in our roads will return,” he said.
Ridon said the policy has kept motorists honest in driving their vehicles, as there was always a certainty of accountability for traffic violations.
“It is our hope that the Supreme Court will reconsider its order, and allow the NCAP to proceed while deliberating the merits of the ongoing petitions,” he said.
