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THE Private Motorists Alliance Coalition (PMAC) on Friday threatened
not to settle traffic violation tickets with local governments in
Metro Manila to protest the mayors’ refusal to implement the
single ticketing system in Metro Manila.
Instead of paying the penalties for the
violations, PMAC spokesperson Roberto Cruz advised drivers to apply
for a duplicate license at the Land Transportation Office (LTO).
Cruz added that since local traffic units have no existing
connections with the LTO, the agency has no records of traffic
violations. Hence, drivers can easily apply for a duplicate license.
He added that the LTO and the Metro Manila
Development Authority (MMDA) are the only agencies connected
electronically, enabling them to share information, so only the two
can verify motorists’ traffic violations.
Cruz stressed that if motorists stopped
redeeming and paying exorbitant fines being charged by local units
through their Ordinance Violation Receipt (OVR), then their traffic
program will fail, eventually forcing them to accept the single
ticketing system of the MMDA.
Cruz, however, clarified that PMAC is not making
a call to ignore the law, adding that they are in favor of Republic
Act 7924, or the MMDA Law. RA 7924 states that it is the MMDA that
has the power to install and administer a single ticketing system in
Metro Manila, fix, impose and collect fines and penalties for all
kinds of violations of traffic regulations, whether moving or
non-moving.
“Local officials are claiming that they are
for the law, yet they can’t even accept the council’s
decision,” said Cruz, citing City Mayors Wenceslao Trinidad of
Pasay, Tobias Tiangco of Navotas, Jejomar Binay of Makati, and JV
Ejercito of San Juan, who are against the MMDA’s ticketing
proposal.
Based on earlier reports, local units are
getting around P40 million a year in traffic fines alone and this
could be the reason they don’t want to let go of their OVRs.
-- James Konstantin Galvez
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