LTO eyes cameras vs busway violators

MANILA, Philippines — The Land Transportation Office would use the closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority to enforce a no-contact apprehension of motorists using the EDSA busway without authorization, an LTO official said yesterday.

The LTO will issue show-cause orders to motorists caught on CCTV videos, according to LTO chief Vigor Mendoza.

“This is not connected to the Supreme Court (SC) case on the NCAP. This is purely an LTO mandate,” he said during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum, referring to the no-contact apprehension policy.

In January 2023, the SC wrapped up the oral arguments on NCAP. The high court, which issued a temporary restraining order on its implementation, has yet to resolve the case.

Mendoza said utilizing existing cameras would help augment the low number of LTO enforcers deployed on EDSA.

He said the LTO is in coordination with the MMDA on the utilization of its cameras, starting with a meeting on Tuesday.

The EDSA busway will just be the pilot test, and this policy could be expanded to other parts of the National Capital Region and expressways, according to Mendoza.

He said that this can also be expanded to the provinces through the help of local government units.

“We will experiment with the busway. We observed that one of the causes of traffic is (lack of) driver discipline,” he said.

Under an agreement, the MMDA and LTO would coordinate on the date and time of the videos and the license plate of the vehicle involved.

These details would be used as the basis for the show-cause order, Mendoza said.

The driver would be held liable for the unauthorized use of the busway and the penalty may range from fines to the suspension or revocation of the driver’s license, he added.