Acting Metropolitan Manila Development Authority General Manager Jojo Garcia, on Friday called on the public to disregard false reports circulating online that MMDA traffic enforcers will no longer be flagging motorists for traffic violations just because the “no contact apprehension” policy (NCAP) uses closed circuit television cameras (CCTVs) to record the acts of traffic violators.
Garcia encouraged the public to rely only on official MMDA social media accounts on Facebook and Twitter as source of information.
“It’s fake news. We deny such reports. It is not true that there’s no more ground apprehension,” said Garcia in a press briefing held at the MMDA main office.
He added that, under the leadership of Chairman Danilo Lim, MMDA is strictly implementing NCAP, which is effectively curtailing opportunities for corruption, bribery and even adversarial confrontation between erring motorists and traffic constables.
“We want to remind the drivers that there are eyes in the sky monitoring you. You cannot just violate traffic rules even if you do not see a traffic enforcer on the scene,” said Garcia.
Date from Metrobase indicated that NCAP has recorded over 100,000 traffic violations from December last year to February 28, 2018.
Additionally, some traffic enforcers are also equipped with body cameras and handheld cameras that record video clips of motorists committing moving violations.
Under the policy, motorists caught violating a traffic rule receive summons containing the screen capture images of the violation, the vehicle’s plate number and other details.
Motorists are given seven days to contest the violation with the MMDA’s traffic adjudication board or pay the prescribed penalty.
There are presently some 300 CCTV cameras installed at major thoroughfares being monitored by a team of Metrobase personnel.
Major thoroughfares covered by the scheme are EDSA, Commonwealth Avenue, C5 Road, Diosdado Macapagal Avenue, Marcos Highway, Roxas Boulevard, among others.
