|
By Jayson Cruz Luna Reporter
A LEGAL battle looms between the
Metropolitan Manila Development
Authority (MMDA) and local governments in Metro Manila after the
MMDA expressed its strong objection over the unified traffic
ticketing system for apprehended motorists being pushed by mayors in
the metropolis.
Lawyer Emmanuel de Castro, MMDA
chief legal counsel, said the agency is not amenable to the proposed
resolution of the Metro Manila mayors to adopt the uniformed traffic
management code (UTMC), that had been enacted into local ordinances
by their respective city and municipal councils as the
single-ticketing system for Metro Manila.
“It runs counter to the spirit
of Executive Order 712 and Republic Act 7924, vesting in the agency
the implementation of the single ticketing system,” de Castro
said.
De Castro further explained that
the agency cannot sanction the single ticketing system of the mayors
because it takes away the vested powers of the MMDA to perform its
functions and powers under EO 712 and RA 7924, the law which created
the agency.
De Castro made the statements in
reaction to the insistence of the mayors to adopt the UTMC as the
uniform set of traffic rules and regulations to be enforced in Metro
Manila, and the use of Ordinance Violation Receipt or OVR to
apprehend motorists. The Metro Manila mayors met on April 15 to
discuss the matter.
The MMDA had earlier proposed
the use of its Traffic Violation Receipt or TVR as the official
traffic ticket in Metro Manila, which will also be used by local
traffic enforcers.
Last month, the Metro Manila
Council (MMC), composed of the MMDA chairman, local mayors, and
their representatives, and the vice mayors and councilors’
leagues, convened to formulate a common ground over the matter.
At the meeting, they formed a
technical working group tasked to draft the implementing rules and
regulations, which was to be approved by the MMC.
De Castro stressed that just
gleaning from the preamble of the resolution proposed by the mayors,
it contradicts itself with some inconsistencies.
Metro Manila mayors downgrade
MMDA powers
The preamble, quoted a Supreme
Court decision in the Garin case, stating that the MMDA does not
posses police power, hence it cannot enact ordinances, rules and
regulations.
On the other hand, the same
resolution mandates the MMC to issue the corresponding guidelines in
accordance with applicable laws, which, de Castro said, is clearly a
legislative function.
De Castro explained that RA 7924
expressly grants the MMDA the powers to perform planning,
monitoring, coordinating and implementing functions, and exercise
regulatory and supervisory authority over the delivery of metro-wide
services.
The same is true with EO 712,
which expressly directs the MMDA to implement the single ticketing
system in Metro Manila.
De Castro cited a document from
the Department of Justice which upholds the MMDA charter over the
Local Government code as the law of general application, because RA
7924 is not only a special law but was also enacted after the local
code.
|
