By Robert B. Roque, Jr.
A truck driver who has run up a bill of P41,000 in traffic penalties posted his grievances against the no contact apprehension program or NCAP on YouTube. But, unfortunately, he’s received fairly little sympathy for being a repeat offender of traffic rules and regulations.
But his argument does merit a little heart. His receipts show that he has already paid at least P4,000 in penalties for his most recent violations, for which he received prompt notices.
When it was time to register the truck, he found out that he was guilty of eight more NCAP traffic violations in the City of Manila that were dated much earlier than the recent notices he had already settled.
He claims that had he known immediately about the earlier traffic violations, he would have reformed and corrected his bad road habits and, subsequently, not have become a repeat offender.
I can almost hear the voice of the late former Manila mayor Alfredo Lim, saying: “The law applies to all or none at all” and “ignorance of the law is not an excuse.”
However, this case study screams of systematic corruption. Prompt notification of a violation does not only serve to penalize the violator but, more importantly, deter or discipline him against repeating his errant ways.
There’s a sound argument that corruption exists if authorities delay the process of serving violation notices because it facilitates the violator’s tendency to be a repeat offender and robs him of his chance to avoid being charged large sums of money.
The NCAP is a good technological tool for data gathering to solve the traffic mess, provide early warnings to motorists, apply the law equally, and curb corruption by traffic enforcers. But any good technological advancement – if misused – can also be oppressive and serve the ends of corruption.
In this case, I point an accusing finger at local government units (LGUs) as the usual suspect. Why so? Simple arithmetic will give you an answer.
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), for example, penalizes motorists with the lowest amount of P150 for the violation of disregarding traffic signs. But there are LGUs that would fine a motorist P2,000 for the same offense.
Now, who are we kidding that LGUs aren’t making a killing off this NCAP?
Today, LGUs are set to meet with Land Transportation Office (LTO) officials to iron out the defects in the system of implementing the NCAP to address such concerns for which motorist complaints are becoming a bigger snarl than the traffic situation in Metro Manila.
Let’s hope this workshop seeks to resolve the flaws that border on the abuse of the rights of motorists and not a syndicate-like sitdown on how to share the loot.
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