Manila mayoral candidate Amado Bagatsing said that he will review the no-contact apprehension traffic program (NCAP) and help the displaced vendors should he become the city’s next chief executive in 2022.
Bagatsing said that he has been receiving complaints from residents about NCAP which is causing inconvenience and too much penalty on motorists.
“Daming nagrereklamo sa ‘kin niyan, biglang nagugulat na lang sila, ‘uy may P35,000 na pala akong utang dun, wala kaming kamalay-malay’ (Many are complaining about that, they are suddenly shocked, saying ‘I already owe P35,000 there),” he said during Manila Bulletin’s Hot Seat interview.
He also said that there were instances when motorists unwittingly violated traffic rules to save themselves from accidents, which they cannot explain when they received a violation ticket under NCAP.
“Ang reklamo nila: sobra naman yan, hindi na makatao yan, pandemya na nga pinapatay pa kami. Sa ibang lugar 1,500 lang, sa atin dalawang libo, eh ang laking bagay samin nun. Wala na ngang kita kukunan pa kami ng dalawang libo, ano ba yan (Their complaints: that is too much, it is no longer humane, we are already suffering from the pandemic. In other places, the fine is only P1,500, but here in the city, it’s P2,000, which is a big thing for us. We have no more income),” he said.
“Yan ang sinasabi ko abnormal times, abnormal ang situation, iba ang approach ko. So we will review it, pati ang clamping, kasi may mga emergency, I mean pag-aralan nating mabuti (That's what I say abnormal times, abnormal situation, I have a different approach. So we will review it, including the clamping, because there are emergencies, I mean let's study carefully),” he added.
Bagatsing also said he will make the penalty lower to help the violators settle their fines.
“NCAP for the city is good but not naman to the prejudice of... alam mo na mga tao... pwede namang reviewhin ‘yan, ibaba ang fees...We will be compassionate and we will also be equitable,” he added.
The mayoral candidate said that he also wants to help the displaced vendors whose vending places have been turned into parking spaces for motorcycles.
“Ito kwento sa min ng mga vendors: Tinanggal kami sir, eh sabi ko nasa kalye kayo eh. Eh okay lang tinanggal kami nasa kalye kami eh, pero ang malungkot, inalis kami, nilagyan ng motorsiklo (This is the story of the vendors: We were removed sir, I said you are on the street. It’s okay, we were removed from the street, but sadly we were removed but replaced with motorcycles), he said.
“Hindi naman yata ayos ‘yun, walang pinakakain ‘yung motorsiklo na pamilya, kayo may pinakakaing pamilya. Kung inalis kayo sa lugar para sa sasakyan, okay lang sa kin ‘yun, pero inalis kayo para gawing paradahan ng motorsiklo, to me that is inequity (I don't think that's okay, the motorcycle has no family to feed, you (vendors) are feeding your families. If you were removed from the street and used it as a motorcycle parking lot, to me that is inequity),” he added.
Bagatsing said that if he wins, he will regulate the payment of street vendors.
“Alisin ko ‘yung kotong dyan, gusto ko mas malaki ang take home pay ninyo (I will remove the “kotong” there). I want your take home pay to be bigger,” he said, The mayoral candidate said that he wants to help the poor improve their situation.
“We have to give these poor people a chance and not exploit them,” he said.
“It’s an addition of what you can expect from a Bagatsing administration -- real compassion. We’re together, inspire the community to be part of the solution and not be part of the problem,” he added.