LTO urges LGUs to suspend 'no contact apprehension policy'

The Land Transportation Office (LTO) on Tuesday called on local government units (LGUs) to suspend and review their "no contact apprehension policy."

In a statement, LTO chief and Transportation Assistant Secretary Teofilo Guadiz III said operators of public utility vehicle have been complaining about paying fines for the traffic violations of their drivers.

“Ito po ay pinag-aaralan namin ngayon. Tila po may kakulangan sa policy na maaaring kailangang repasuhin upang ang mismong drayber o nagmamaneho ng sasakyan ang dapat na managot sa paglabag,” he said.

(We are now reviewing the  no contact apprehension policy. It seems there is a deficiency in the policy that we need to revise to make drivers accountable for their violations.)

Guadiz said the law provides that registered owners of the vehicle shall pay for the traffic violations committed using their vehicles by command responsibility and on the presumption that they are also the drivers.

The LTO chief advised LGUs, which drafted the guidelines for the policy, to coordinate with the agency and iron out the guidelines for the traffic policy.

He said LGUs and MMDA are the ones implementing the no contact apprehension and LTO is just helping by sending an alarm about the vehicle in violation.

Guadiz also considered instances when the vehicle is already sold to another individual, and the transfer of ownership is not yet registered with the LTO, and a violation of traffic rules was committed.

Representative Robert Ace Barbers of Surigao del Norte also raised the alarm over the non-contact apprehension policy on Tuesday after receiving reports and complaints from motorists, particularly motorbike drivers engaged in delivery services, who are being penalized with enormous fees "without due process of law."

Barbers said that while the policy intends to discipline erring drivers, the public should be enlightened about the details of its implementation to curb or stop abuses by the implementers.

"This system is laudable, but the implementers, I was told, are imposing excessive fines and could be violating the Constitution since there is no due process of law.  Likewise there is no law, ordinance or regulation prohibiting vehicle registration due to non-payment of fines for traffic violations," Barbers said.

The lawmaker said that while the non-contact apprehension policy is supposed to be implemented by the MMDA, in coordination with the Land Transportation Office (LTO), in all major thoroughfares in the region, some local government units (LGUs), like Manila, Quezon City, Parañaque, and Valenzuela, have also acquired/adopted NCAP technology in their own localities.

"What if one erring driver is caught by the MMDA and Quezon City [LGU] at the same time, will the driver be penalized twice for the same offense? How about the erring drivers of government-issued (red plate) vehicles?," he said.

Barbers said if the MMDA were the only forum where these erring drivers caught on monitors could file grievances, complaints, and protests, then the agency would then virtually become "the accuser, judge, and executioner."  

Moreover, Barbers said that the public should be informed about the private technology/service providers' details, some security-related issues, and accountability issues such as where the penalties/fines or fees they collect go.

On Sunday, the Federation of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines (FEJODAP) appealed to the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and its sectoral offices to allow them to transfer the ownership of the units they no longer own due to these issues. —Joviland Rita and Llanesca Panti/KBK/VBL, GMA News