The Metro Manila Council (MMC), Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA), and the Land Transportation Office (LTO) held their final meeting on Thursday, Jan. 19, for the single ticketing system which aims to unify all road violations and penalties of motorists and streamline the settling of fines in all the 17 cities of the National Capital Region (NCR).
MMC President and San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora spearheaded the meeting with MMDA Chairman Romando Artes, LTO Regional Director Noreen San Luis-Lutey, and other city government officials and representatives of the cities in the metropolis held at the San Juan City Hall.
“We want to implement standardized violation citations and fines across all LGUs and implementing agencies in Metro Manila and make things easier for our motorists through this system,” Zamora said.
"We do not have physical borders. Minsan nga hindi mo alam kung nasaang banda kana ba, nasa Mandaluyong na ba ako or nasa Quezon City na ba ako, lalo na kung motorista ka na hindi talaga kagamay ang Metro Manila (We do not have physical borders. Sometimes the motorist don't even know whether he is in Mandaluyong or Quezon City especially if he or she is not really familiar with Metro Manila), you really have no idea where you are, you just know you are in Metro Manila," he explained.
"Kaya malaking bagay na ‘yung 20 pangkaraniwang violations ay standardized na at pareho ang magiging multa, hindi na kukumpiskahin ang iyong lisensya at pagbabayarin ka pa using the initial systems, ‘yun ‘yung convenience sa ating mga motorista. Kasi ang katotohanan, kinakailangan mong bumalik sa LGU at tubusin ang lisensya mo and of course (That's the reason for the standardization of the 20 common violations, the postponement of the confiscation of licenses, and the convenience of our motorists. Because in reality, the violator must go back to the LGU to pay for his penalty and recover his or her driver's license), this was happening prior to the stoppage of the confiscation," the local chief noted.
The TWG also presented the final draft of the Metro Manila Traffic Code, the LTO MOA for Interconnectivity with LGUs and the draft of Metro Manila Council Resolution adopting the Metro Manila Traffic Code.
“We’re looking at first quarter of this year, ang kulang na lang naman ay hardware, mga IT equipment. Popondohan ng MMDA ang hardware at IT equipment para mas mabilis at sabay-sabay, walang maiiwan na LGU (We're just waiting for the hardware and IT equipment which will be funded by the MMDA for its swift integration, no LGU will be left behind),” said Artes.
“With this integration, pag nahuli ka, hindi kukumpiskahin ang lisensya mo. So kahit nasa Abra ka, pwede mong bayaran ‘yung iyong lisensya without going to the LGU. It’s very beneficial sa tao. Hindi pa iba-iba ang penalty sa kada city (once you’re caught, your license will no longer be confiscated. Even if you are in Abra, you can pay your penalty without going to the LGU. This is very beneficial to the public because of the uniform penalties in all cities),” he added.
The TWG discussed that they only picked 20 standard violations because these are the most common violations of motorists.
If there are any existing traffic ordinances in their cities that are being implemented, said cities can still keep them in effect.
Zamora first proposed the system during the joint session of the MMC and the Regional Development Council (RDC), which he also co-chairs, last Nov. 26 to ease the burden on motorists.
The project aims to establish a unified ticketing system wherein the same amount of fines will be imposed for common traffic violations in all Metro Manila LGUs. The MMDA and the Land Transportation Office (LTO) will be immediately tagged in the digital records to make sure drivers cannot renew their licenses or declare them lost just to evade payment.
The system will also include the IT integration as well as the data privacy of drivers and payment options thru digital payment system or payment centers.
The LTO earlier said that it has already laid down the technical requirements for the MMDA and LGUs to issue traffic violation tickets to tag and record traffic violations.