MMDA wants to bring back No Contact Apprehension Policy

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) is calling for reimplementing the No Contact Apprehension Policy (NCAP). The agency wants to bring the NCAP back so that it can better monitor roads in Metro Manila including the EDSA Bus Lane.

NCAP is said to help the MMDA to better monitor roads in Metro Manila

In a report in CNN Philippines, MMDA Acting Chairman Atty. Romado Artes shared that the NCAP will allow the agency to boost further its campaign in apprehending erring motorists who violate traffic violations. 

Artes said that the number of unauthorized vehicles that use the exclusive EDSA Bus Lane has increased since the suspension of the NCAP. The MMDA has already started imposing stiffer fines for EDSA Bus Lane violators, netting 514 erring motorists during the first day of implementation last November 13.

Here is the list of fines under the MMDA Regulation No. 23-002:

- First offense – Php 5,000

- Second offense – Php 10,000 plus one-month suspension of driver’s license, and required to undergo a road safety seminar

- Third offense – Php 20,000 plus one-year suspension of driver’s license

- Fourth offense – Php 30,000 plus recommendation to Land Transportation Office for revocation

EDSA Bus Lane

MMDA Acting Chief Artes also shared that the agency needs the technology behind the NCAP to effectively monitor Metro Manila roads. He argued that the MMDA cannot manually monitor roads under its jurisdiction 24 hours a day, seven days a week (24/7).  

“Sana maaksyunan na po dahil kailangan talaga namin ‘yung tulong ng technology para mabantayan ang lansangan ng Metro Manila. Hindi namin po kayang bantayan ng 24/7 na mano-mano ang lahat ng kalsada sa amin jurisdiction,” Artes said.

(We hope that necessary actions be put into place since since we need technology to monitor the roads of Metro Manila. We [the MMDA] cannot manually monitor all roads under our jurisdiction 24/7.) 

Artes previously said that the MMDA finds it “difficult to enforce the exclusivity of the said lane without the certainty of a CCTV-assisted apprehension.”

The Supreme Court suspended the NCAP last August 2022 following various petitions filed against the policy. One petition argued the NCAP violates a person’s right to privacy. Concerns such as the system could be used for corruption were also raised against the policy. 

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