Court upholds MM single ticketing system

LOCAL government units (LGUs) in Metro Manila can no longer issue their own traffic violation tickets after the Supreme Court ruled that only the single ticketing system (STS) of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) shall be used in the National Capital Region (NCR).

In a decision penned by Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa dated July 11, 2023, but was only made public this week, the Court voided the ordinances of 15 Metro Manila LGUs that allowed them to issue traffic violation tickets, ordinance violation receipts and confiscate licenses of erring motorists.

However, it added that other local ordinances remained valid and unaffected by the ruling.

“In this connection, the Court also finds that the autonomy of the LGUs will not be unduly undermined by the ruling in this case, as their interests are amply protected by the very structure of the MMDA as established by the MMDA Law,” the Court said.

The high tribunal directed LGUs to uphold the STS, which standardized and harmonized the fines and penalties for common traffic violations in the NCR.

The STS covers all major and secondary thoroughfares within the jurisdictional bounds of Metro Manila.

The decision resolved the petition for certiorari with a prayer for the issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction and/or temporary restraining order filed by drivers and operators of public utility vehicles on Dec. 21, 2006, which sought to challenge the ticketing system of the 15 LGUs before the Court of Appeals.

The petitioners argued that the traffic code provisions of the LGUs violate sections 29 and 62 of the Land Transportation Office law that grants authority to the agency to confiscate driver’s licenses and issue a prescribed receipt for violations of local traffic rules and regulations.