NCAP Day 1: 866 traffic violators caught on cam
Fewer motorists were flagged for violating traffic rules on Monday, the first day of the reimplementation of the No Contact Apprehension Policy (NCAP) of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), compared to last week when the policy was still suspended.
The MMDA said all violations recorded by their closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras had been verified manually by their personnel to ensure fairness, especially on roads in Metro Manila with defective or absent road markings and traffic signages.
From 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday, the MMDA logged a total of 866 violators through NCAP—of these, 228 were caught during the morning rush hours from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., when the number coding is enforced in Metro Manila roads.
Most of these violations involved disregarding traffic signs which carries a fine of P1,000, followed by violating the number coding scheme, which has a P500 penalty.
The MMDA could not give a day-to-day comparison but said Monday’s NCAP apprehensions were expected to be lower compared to May 19, also a Monday, where 3,900 motorists were monitored to have violated traffic laws in 24 hours.
The NCAP was reimplemented on Monday after the Supreme Court partially lifted the temporary restraining order it issued against the program in 2022.
This allows only the MMDA, not local government units in Metro Manila, to enforce it.
The NCAP will be implemented 24/7 in five circumferential roads and 10 radial roads in Metro Manila, among them Edsa, Commonwealth Avenue, Roxas Boulevard, Taft Avenue and Aurora Boulevard.
Powered by AI
In a press conference, MMDA Chair Don Artes could not give the level of accuracy of NCAP’s artificial intelligence (AI) technology in catching traffic violators, but noted it was “very strict” in recognizing vehicles flouting traffic rules.
“But what I can assure the public is that not every violation captured by our AI automatically means the violator will be issued a notice of violation (NOV). Each and all of these apprehensions by our AI are reviewed by our personnel manually,” he said.
Artes said a number of the AI-capture violations through CCTVs were “invalidated upon review” by MMDA personnel.
“These include ambulances accessing the Edsa Busway as it is allowed, as well as tolerable switching of lanes, or slight breaching of the lanes for motorcycles and bicycles. These are not really traffic violations but captured by our AI,” he said.
Artes also rejected proposals by some motorists for the MMDA to have a dry run of NCAP before fully enforcing it again, citing the three years that the policy was suspended.
“Regardless if we have only physical apprehensions or NCAP, we should all follow traffic rules. We should all comply with the traffic laws whether there is an NCAP or not,” he said.
According to Artes, portions of some major thoroughfares under the MMDA’s jurisdiction are still not equipped with CCTVs so motorists should expect that their enforcers will still issue tickets if they violate traffic laws.
“But we can assure the public that there will be no duplication [of traffic violations]. If the physical apprehension of our enforcers is encoded in our system, it will automatically alert if the violation has already been captured by CCTV [under NCAP],” he explained.
Notification
The MMDA, he said, is working to launch an app where motorists can verify their NCAP violations.
The agency is also collaborating with telecommunications companies to implement SMS notifications, ensuring motorists receive timely alerts about their violations.
Under the current system, NOVs are delivered via postal mail, typically reaching recipients within five to seven days. A violation may be contested before the MMDA Traffic Adjudication Division (TAD) online at https://bit.ly/3J62YhH within seven days upon the receipt of the NOV.
At present, NCAP fines can be paid through the official payment portal, Land Bank of the Philippines’ Link.BizPortal, or in person at the MMDA head office in Pasig City.
According to Artes, payment options will soon expand to include GCash, Maya and other digital payment platforms, as well as Bayad Centers.
