04/29/2008 [ tribune.net.ph ]
A legal battle is brewing between the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and the local government units of Metro Manila following the former’s expression of its strong objection to the LGU-administered unified traffic ticketing system being pushed by the Metro Manila mayors.
In an opinion issued yesterday, the MMDA said it is not amenable to the proposed resolution of Metro Manila mayors adopting the uniform traffic management code (UTMC) of the local government units that have been enacted into local ordinances as the metropolis’ single-ticketing system (STS).
“It runs counter to the spirit of Executive Order (EO) 712 and Republic Act (RA) 7924 vesting in the agency the implementation of the single ticketing system,” MMDA Chief Legal Counsel Emmanuel de Castro said.
He explained that the agency cannot sanction the mayors’ version of a single ticketing system because it takes away the vested enforcement right of the agency to perform its functions and powers under EO 712 and RA 7924.
De Castro expressed this opinion in the wake of the insistence of the LGUs to adopt the UTMC as the uniform set of traffic rules and regulations to be enforced in Metro Manila and the Ordinance Violation Receipt (OVR) as the unified ticketing system to be used in apprehending traffic violators during a meeting last April 15.
The OVR is the ticket being used by the LGUs.
The MMDA has proposed the use of its own Traffic Violation Receipts as the official traffic ticket in the entire metropolis to be used by local traffic enforcers.
The Metro Manila Council (MMC), composed of the MMDA chairman, local mayors, and their representatives, and the vice-mayors and councilors’ leagues, last month, after which they formed a technical working group tasked to draft implementing rules and regulations for the approval of the MMC.
De Castro pointed out the preamble of the mayors’ proposed resolution contradicts itself owing to some inconsistencies.
“The preamble, quoting a Supreme Court decision in the Garin case, the resolution says that the MMDA does not posses the police power, hence it cannot enact ordinances, rules and regulations,” he said.
On the other hand, the same resolution mandates the MMC to issue the corresponding IRR in accordance with applicable laws which, he said, is clearly a legislative function.
He explained that RA 7924 expressly grants the MMDA the powers to perform planning, monitoring, coordinating and implementing functions and exercise regulatory and supervisory authority over the delivery of metro-wide services. These, he said, are in accordance with national government policies without diminution of the LGU’s autonomy concerning purely local matters.
“The same is true for EO 712 which expressly directs the MMDA to implement the STS in the capital,” De Castro said.
He cited the legal opinion of the Department of Justice, upholding the MMDA Charter over the Local Government Code as a law of general application because RA 7924 is not only a special law but a later enactment as well. Ben Gines, Jr.
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