Senate President Francis ‘Chiz’ G. Escudero is calling on the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) for a fair, fast and transparent implementation of the Non-Contact Apprehension Policy or NCAP to ease concerns over the program’s enforcement.
The Supreme Court has lifted the temporary restraining order on NCAP, and reactions to its resumption have not been encouraging, Senate President Escudero lamented, with several motorists raising the issue of fairness in apprehensions and if due process will be followed.
One of the issues raised was the speed in which the notices or violations (NOVs) could be delivered.
Based on the information provided by MMDA, he noted that “this will take time and as such there are potential problems that will come up.”
In a fact sheet released by the MMDA to the public, there will be an initial review of the flagged violations, after which the registration of the vehicles will be verified with the Land Transportation Office.
Once all the information has been entered into the NCAP system, the NOVs will be printed out and sent to the registered address of the vehicle owner via PhilPost.
It is only when the NOVs are received by the concerned motorists that they can start the appeals process if they wish to challenge the basis of the apprehensions.
“Lumalabas na matagal ang buong proseso at via snail mail pa ang pagpapadala ng NOVs. Maaaring ‘pag dumating na ang NOV ay hindi na matandaan ng motorista ang umanong violation. Ang dapat dito ay araw lang ang bilang—mas mabilis mas maganda,” the Senate leader said.
Penalties for non-payment of fines could also accumulate if the NOVs are lost in the mail for one reason or another.
He said MMDA should also utilize emails for motorists if these are available in their system in order to expedite the process.
The Senate President said the MMDA should also immediately address the problematic lane markings, traffic lights, and signages since these will be the basis for many of the violations and apprehensions.
“Evidence should be clear and, as much as possible, indisputable. Enforcement of traffic rules and regulations should be consistent. It must be applied to all, no exceptions. This is how programs such as the NCAP will be justified and later on, accepted by all,” he said.
“Dapat matanggal sa isip ng mga motorista na ang NCAP ay isang paraan lang para kumita ang MMDA o gobyerno at ang pagsasaayos ng pagpapatupad nito at ng mga batas trapiko ang pinaka-importanteng hakbang para maging katanggap-tanggap para sa lahat ang programang ito,” the veteran legislator added.