Supreme Court dismisses petitions, gives green light to MMDA’s NCAP

The Supreme Court (SC) has dismissed the consolidated petitions challenging the validity of No Contact Apprehension Program (NCAP) in Metro Manila.

In a statement on Thursday, the high court said the issues raised in the suit have since become moot due to the adoption of a new and uniform traffic enforcement framework under the Metro Manila Traffic Code of 2023 (MMTC 2023).

It added the petitions were also rejected for lack of legal standing on the part of the petitioners, who failed to exhaust other administrative remedies before going to court and disregarded the hierarchy of courts as well as the rule on forum-shopping.

The decision, written by Associate Justice Rodil Zalameda, dismissed the petitions filed by Kilusan sa Pagbabago ng Industriya ng Transportasyon and others, which sought to declare unconstitutional ordinances of Muntinlupa City, Parañaque City, Quezon City, Valenzuela City, and the City of Manila implementing Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Resolution No. 16-01, which established NCAP to ease traffic and reduce corruption through the use of digital cameras to detect traffic violations.

The petitioners argue that NCAP contradicts Republic Act No. (RA) 4136, or the Land Transportation and Traffic Code, as it requires direct, face-to- face apprehension of violators and places responsibility on the actual driver rather than the registered vehicle owner.

They also contend that the system violates due process because motorists may receive penalties without immediate notice, leaving them unable to contest violations and resulting in compounding fines before they are informed.

The SC ruled that the issues had been overtaken by later developments and noted that MMTC 2023 now provides a uniform traffic adjudication system, procedures before traffic adjudication boards, periods for settling notices of violation, guidelines for tagging violations in the Land Transportation Office’s (LTO) Land Transportation Management System, data privacy safeguards, uniform fines and penalties, recognized online payment platforms, and rules on the mandatory authorization process.

The SC said these developments effectively replaced the fragmented NCAP systems challenged in the petitions.

Since neither MMTC 2023 nor the new ordinances were being challenged before the Court, any ruling on the validity of the old ordinances would have no practical or legal effect, it added.

The SC also lifted the temporary restraining order it issued on Aug. 30, 2022 against the City of Manila, Quezon City, Valenzuela City, Parañaque and Muntinlupa City, as well as the LTO. (PNA)

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