MANILA, Philippines - As preventive measure for street crimes, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has created an SMS hotline where commuters can text the plate numbers of erring taxis, jeeps or buses.

MMDA chair Bayani Fernando said the "Trip Tracker" project under the agency's Safe City program, would assist commuters victimized in hold-ups or by overcharging taxi drivers.

The service also aims to help passengers with forgotten baggages.

"If you had texted the plate number and the name of the taxicab you got on, upon boarding your taxi, we can help you trace that taxicab," Fernando said in Filipino.

The "Trip Tracker" project did not duplicate the hotlines of the Land Transportation Office and Philippine National Police as the Tracker would serv as a "logbook" for plate numbers that may be used later on.

"The messages will be stored by our Metrobase. For example, you have a relative who rode a taxi but did not get to his or her destination. You can go to the MMDA, tell us the cell phone number so we can check if he or she texted. Aside from the plate number, we will know the time and location when it was texted," he said.

Stickers with the text hotlines 0917-5618709 (Globe) and 0920-9472116 (Smart) will also be distributed to public utility vehicles to create awareness among commuters and drivers.