MMDA: CA ruling won't affect single ticketing system

MANILA, Philippines - The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) clarified Tuesday that while the Court of Appeals (CA) in its recent ruling upheld the authority of local government units in Metro Manila to enforce their respective local traffic laws, it does not have any effect on the Uniform Ordinance Violation Receipt (UOVR) or the single ticketing scheme now being used across the capital.

 

“We welcome the CA ruling but the MMDA and the LGUs, with the support of transport groups, are already implementing UOVR since last year,” MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino said.

 

On Monday, in a 16-page decision, the Appellate Court’s 6th Division upheld the legality of several traffic ordinances of Metro Manila’s LGUs and denied a petition by several transport groups to have it nullified.

 

The MMDA said the case was filed in 2006 or six years before the UOVR was implemented.

 

Tolentino said that while the MMDA does not question the CA’s ruling, he argues that the UOVR scheme has been in effect since March 1, 2012 and is consistent with the public transport operators’ clamor to have a single traffic ticket within Metro Manila.

 

Tolentino added that the UOVR scheme also did not nullify or disregard any of the LGUs’ traffic ordinances.

 

“(The) UOVR is now being implemented. The CA ruling has no effect whatsoever on this single ticketing scheme that has been in place since last year,” Tolentino said.

 

On January 26 last year, the Metro Manila Council (MMC) which is the policy-making arm of the MMDA and is composed of the 17 mayors of Metro Manila, unanimously approved a resolution establishing a system of interconnectivity among the LGUs and government bodies involved in traffic management.

 

The MMC resolution gave way for the implementation of the UOVR scheme that issues a uniform traffic violation ticket bearing the MMDA logo and those of the 17 LGUs.  The UOVR ticket is recognized by all LGU traffic enforcers, the MMDA and by traffic enforcers of the Land Transportation Office.

 

With the use of the UOVR, a motorist who gets apprehended for a traffic violation and gets his driver’s license confiscated, can use the single traffic violation ticket as temporary license. Should the motorist be flagged down in another city, he will no longer be issued another traffic violation ticket for driving without a license on presentation of his UOVR.

 

The UOVR is valid only for a single common offense. A motorist issued an UOVR in one city for speeding, could be issued another UOVR for beating the red light in another city, the MMDA said.

 

Under UOVR, MMDA, LGU and LTO traffic enforcers will honor and recognize the UOVRs issued by other LGUs, enabling apprehended motorists to use their tickets as temporary driver’s license. 

 

Motorists who are issued UOVR tickets by MMDA and LTO enforcers are given seven days to pay the fine imposed at any Metrobank branch. For LGU-issued UOVRs, violators will have five days to settle fines and redeem their license in the city where the apprehension took place.

 

Tolentino said the MMDA and the 17 Metro Manila local government units are now working to harmonize all local traffic ordinances towards the adoption of a Uniform Metro Manila Traffic Code.