Land Transportation Office (LTO) has appealed to local government units (LGUs)  to suspend the no contact apprehension policy (NCAP )and consider reviewing such traffic policy.

Teofilo Guadiz III, LTO chief and  Department of Transportation (DOTr) assistant secretary encouraged the LGUs to sit down with the LTO to iron out guidelines, including the complaints of operators of public utility vehicles that they are the ones who are forced to pay the fines for traffic violations committed by their drivers.

“Sa ilalim ng batas, ang nagbabayad ng multa ay ang registered owner ng sasakyan, on the presumption na ang rehistradong may-ari ng sasakyan ang nagmamaneho and by command responsibility, ‘yung may-ari ng sasakyan talaga ang dapat na magbayad kung may violation,”  Guadiz said.

“Pero, ito po ay pinag-aaralan namin ngayon. Tila po may kakulangan sa policy na maaaring kailangang repasuhin upang ang mismong drayber o nagmamaneho ng sasakyan ang dapat na managot sa paglabag. We will look into ways na ang dapat managot ay ang drayber,” he added. 

Guadiz also emphasized that LTO is only helping the LGUs and the MMDA in the implementation by sending alarm about the vehicle in violation while the LGUs draft the guidelines of NCAP.

“Ito po ay proyekto ng mga LGU. Ang part lang ng LTO ay kami ang naglalabas ng alarma sa mga sasakyang may paglabag” the LTO chief added.

Another issue that Guadiz wants to study is if the vehicle is already sold to another individual, and the transfer of ownership is not yet registered with the LTO, and a violation of traffic rules was committed.

“There are instances po na ‘yung sasakyan ay nailipat na sa ibang pangalan pero dahil hindi ito nailagda sa LTO, ang sinisingil pa po nila ay ‘yung dating may-ari ng sasakyan. We would like to revisit this po,” Guadiz said.

Guadiz believes that the objective of the NCAP is noble, but it should first be fine-tuned for a stronger and more effective implementation in order to contribute to a smoother flow of traffic in Metro Manila.