MMDA to step up physical apprehension after SC issues TRO vs NCAP
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) vowed on Wednesday, Aug. 31 to intensify the physical apprehension of traffic violators in the National Capital Region (NCR) after the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order in the implementation of the controversial no-contact apprehension policy (NCAP).
Lawyer Cris Saruca, Jr., MMDA head of Legal Service and acting spokesperson, said they have already mapped out adjustment in the implementation of traffic rules, including deployment of more personnel in the areas where MMDA traffic enforcers were pulled out due to the presence of cameras being used for the NCAP.
The areas include EDSA, Commonwealth, Quezon Avenue, Roxas Boulevard, C-5, and Macapagal Boulevard.
"The NCAP has contributed to behavioral shift of motorists but we will do our best to efficiently perform its mandate on traffic and transport management sans the policy (NCAP)," said Saruca.
The MMDA is not included in the list of respondents in the petition filed by transport groups. But the Supreme Court said the agency is covered in the issuance of the TRO.
Transport groups asked the Supreme Court to declare the NCAP implementation as unconstitutional as they argued that it violates the right to due process of vehicle owners.
Under NCAP implementation, violation tickets are sent to the registered owners of the vehicles under the principle that they are always driving them.
In the case of operators of public utility vehicles, they usually hire drivers under the boundary system.
The Land Transportation Office, one of the respondents in the case, earlier echoed the concerns of the transport groups.