Isko: NCAP necessary to promote road safety
AMID criticisms by some commuters and transport groups, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno firmly believes the No Contact Apprehension Policy (NCAP) is necessary to promote road-safety and instill traffic discipline.
This was revealed by Manila Traffic and Parking Bureau (MTPB) Chief of Operation Wilson Chan in a media forum on Saturday which was also attended by Atty. Minrado Batonghinog, Jr. of the City Legal Office (CLO) who expressed confidence that the policy will help address the traffic management, prevent cases of corruption and will promote safety of both the traffic enforcers and the motorists against COVID-19 infections.
Citing the inefficient service of the country’s postal service, Chan said the city government is now in the process of acquiring the service of a private courier to speed up the delivery of the Notices of Violation (NoV) to registered owner of vehicles captured on camera in the act of violating traffic rules and regulation.
Chan admitted that NoV being sent to vehicle owners through regular PhilPost mail take almost three to four weeks before violators receive their citation ticket.
Just like in Paranaque and Valenzuela cities where the NCAP is being implemented, motorists may contest their violation by visiting the Traffic Adjudication Board under the Traffic Management Bureau that reviews and validates all traffic violation notices.
In case a registered owner of the vehicle fails to settle their violation, the Manila city government will send an alarm to the Land Transportation Office (LTO) for the motor vehicle registration which means that the owner won’t be able to register their motor vehicle until penalties are fully settled.
Chan also clarified that in case of public utility vehicles, operators have solidary liability in their driver’s action and such violation or payment of fines shall be demandable upon him or her.
Chan said this was stated in the franchise of public transport wherein it is the primary duty of the operators to ensure that the drivers in their employ are trained and informed in traffic rules and regulations on the roads.
Batonghinog and Chan also defended the huge amount of fines and penalties compared to the penalties being imposed by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) since the amount of money being collected has its reasonable purpose in acquiring equipment such as body cameras, service vehicles and motorcycles and other operating expenses being incurred by the MTPB for their effective performance of their duties and responsibilities.
They also advised motorists who wanted to check if they have violations to visit their websitehttps://nocontact.manilacity.ph.
