Court shoots down 2 MMDA schemes

Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Bayani Fernando is now faced with another set of legal problems after a Makati City court ordered the agency to stop implementing two of its traffic management schemes yesterday.

The agency was barred from further implementing its Metro Traffic Ticket (MTT) system and the No Contact Traffic Apprehension (NCTA) scheme.

Judge Cesar Santamaria of Makati City Regional Trial Court (MCRTC) Branch 145 ruled in favor of nine transport groups and two private complainants who filed a suit against the MMDA four months ago.

They accused Fernando and his men of allegedly implementing illegal and unfair traffic management projects and programs.

The case was lodged by the Pinagisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Opereytors Nationwide (Piston), Federation of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines (Fejodap), Metro Manila Bus Operators Association (MMBOA), Integrated Metro Bus Operators Association (Imboa), and other major transport organizations.

They called on the court to order the MMDA to stop implementing the MTT, NCTA and the Organized Bus Route (OBR) scheme implemented on EDSA.

Santamaria, in a 12-page decision, favored the transport groups after several hearings and studying their claims.

He, however, allowed the MMDA to keep the OBR scheme which controls the dispatch of buses plying the EDSA route daily.

The MMDA started implementing the MTT and the NCTA in November 2002 and September 2003, respectively.

Fernando said he has not received a copy of the decision but it will be studied by MMDA’s lawyers.

The MTT scheme replaced the TVR which makes it easier for apprehended drivers to pay fines through banks and without having have to go to the MMDA office in Makati.

The NCTA, on the other hand, arms traffic management personnel with video and still cameras for use in catching traffic violators along EDSA.