‘No-contact’ policy faces legal roadblock

The no-contact policy that the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will adopt starting this Friday against traffic violators may be headed for a legal roadblock.

The head of the transport group Piston on Saturday said it would go to the Supreme Court to question the MMDA measure, which will rely on more than 250 high-definition cameras around the capital to spot vehicles disregarding traffic rules, track down their owners through the license plates and have them summoned.

Piston president George San Mateo, whose group counts 50,000 members in the metropolis, said he would seek a restraining order as soon as the policy takes effect.

According to San Mateo, the policy would violate Republic Act No. 4136, or the Land Transportation and Traffic Code, which he said sets the manner by which traffic violators should be apprehended.

The law, he said, states that vehicles found committing violations should be flagged down, with the driver handing over his or her license to a traffic officer.

Mayors’ consent not enough

“That is what they should be following because the details from the license you get are supposed to be what you write in the ticket. You are supposed to actually catch the violator (for an officer to issue the ticket),” San Mateo said.

The resolution in support of the new scheme and passed by the Metro Manila Council, the MMDA’s policymaking body composed of Metro Manila mayors, is not enough legal basis to make “such radical changes” in RA No. 4136. “Getting the mayors’ consent is only one aspect,” he stressed.

The MMDA, which is actually just reviving a scheme tested on a limited scale in 2011, will start implementing the system on April 15.

Officials also explained that by removing human contact in the apprehension process, bribery and extortion would also be prevented.

MMDA ‘laziness’

Drivers summoned for violations based on the camera recordings are given seven days to challenge the citation. In the case of public utility vehicles like buses, the operators who will receive the summons are expected to cooperate with the MMDA and present the driver concerned.

But for Mateo, “once (the policy) is implemented, it will become a witchhunt. What will be the basis for the violation? It’s laziness on the part of the MMDA. In the first place, they should be the one disciplining their enforcers who extort money.”