EDITORIAL — Fair NCAP implementation

With the partial resumption of the no-contact apprehension policy in Metro Manila, motorists have also revived concerns that the NCAP is mainly a fund-raising scheme that would deprive them of their day’s earnings.

To allay these concerns, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, whose version of the NCAP was allowed by the Supreme Court to resume, is reportedly considering community service as an option in lieu of fines for those apprehended under the policy that aims to improve road discipline in traffic-choked Metro Manila.

At the same time, the MMDA is using digital technology to make it easier for those apprehended under NCAP to pay the fines or else contest the citations.

The Supreme Court has yet to rule on the petitions seeking to nullify the more controversial version of NCAP, which several local government units in Metro Manila applied by tapping the services of a private company, QPax Traffic Systems Inc.

QPax, which provided the surveillance cameras and traffic management systems for NCAP, collected from 60 to 65 percent of the fines while the LGUs got the smaller share. NCAP opponents including several lawmakers questioned the legality of this revenue-sharing scheme as well as the outsourcing of a law enforcement function to the private sector. 

President Marcos has said he is in favor of NCAP, saying it instills road discipline and improves traffic management, but he wants it to be implemented fairly. He must tell his officials to sufficiently address motorists’ other concerns about the scheme. Among these is the insufficiency of traffic infrastructure such as road signages as well as traffic lights with no countdown timers and with defective yellow lights, which turn road junctions into fund-raising NCAP traps.

 Now the MMDA also faces fake text messages ordering motorists to pay NCAP fines. Artificial intelligence has made it harder for people to detect online scams. And any traffic management scheme that penalizes violators with stiff fines is likely to generate such AI-enabled scams.

 There are so many fatal vehicular accidents caused by reckless and so-called “kamote” drivers, and road discipline must be enforced. But if the government insists on NCAP, it must address the concerns of motorists, and ensure that it is not abused.