MMDA mulls ‘service’ in lieu of fines
If you see someone you know suddenly working in the sun and logging a few hours as a street sweeper, chances are he’s doing “community service” for a traffic violation.
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) plans to impose community service instead of fines on motorists cited for violations under the No-Contact Apprehension Policy (NCAP).
MMDA Chair Don Artes spoke of the plan in a dialogue on Friday between his agency and various motorcycling communities.
“Maybe you can just do community service, especially on your day-off, so that instead of losing time in your livelihood or instead of paying what you should be feeding your family, just do community service,” he said.
The MMDA chief said, however, that the agency has yet to come up with the types of volunteer work for erring motorists as well as the workload corresponding to the violations.
“We’ll discuss whether the hours can be shortened so that even after community service, they can still [report for work],” he said, especially since many motorcyclists do online deliveries and related services for a living.
Artes said the MMDA was not considering reducing fines for NCAP violations.
“We won’t reduce (them) because the penalty—you’re not the only ones affected by that. What about the rich? Like those who violate number coding. You [motorcycle riders are] exempted from number coding,” he said.
But he also acknowledged that “those who are well-off.. are less likely to do community service because they can pay.”
The NCAP took effect on May 26, a week after the Supreme Court lifted its 2022 restraining order on the traffic policy covering major thoroughfares such as Edsa, Commonwealth Avenue, Roxas Boulevard, Taft Avenue and Aurora Boulevard.
On June 16, the MMDA launched its “May Huli Ka” website to allow motorists to check online if they had been cited for traffic violations.
