EDITORIAL - NCAP scammers

Valenzuela and Parañaque have suspended the implementation of the no-contact apprehension policy. Valenzuela cited the ongoing road repairs in the city while Parañaque said it needed more time to study the NCAP scheme.

This leaves four cities with their own NCAP. The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority has been implementing its NCAP along several major thoroughfares since last year. Why individual local government units in Metro Manila find it necessary to implement their own NCAP is unclear.

Motorists who remember the arbitrary implementation and excessive penalties when NCAP was first enforced by the LGUs in Metro Manila suspect that this may be linked to fund-raising rather than traffic management.

Following the return of NCAP in the four cities, the public also faces a new problem: scammers. Since the return of the local versions of NCAP on Oct. 5, text messages have been popping up on mobile phones, ostensibly from NCAP.

The messages warn the phone owners that their traffic fine is about to expire, and that failure to pay by the due date would mean “substantial” penalties for late payment, and advising the owners to check out a link.

Amid complaints, the MMDA has sought the help of other agencies. If the perpetrators are caught, they should be made to face the full force of the law.

There is general agreement that traffic discipline and defensive driving are lacking in the streets of Metro Manila. NCAP also eliminates opportunities for corruption by traffic enforcers.

The MMDA, which uses its own system for NCAP, has had few complaints in its implementation of the scheme.

In the case of the LGUs that used private firm QPax for traffic enforcement, however, there were numerous complaints that it was mainly a fund-raising racket, with the lion’s share of the exorbitant fines going to the private provider.

Such complaints were brought to the Supreme Court, which slapped a temporary restraining order on NCAP in the National Capital Region. The TRO was lifted recently as the SC pointed out that there is already a unified traffic management scheme in the NCR. But if it is unified, why do individual LGUs find it necessary to have their own NCAP versions?

Now, on top of fears about the return of NCAP abuses, people must contend with scammers. These localized NCAP schemes deserve a second look.