MMDA speed guns work at night, MMDA chief clarifies

Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chair Francis Tolentino on Wednesday countered statements earlier made by his deputy, who claimed in a hearing at the House of Representatives that the speed guns the agency purchased do not work well at night. Tolentino said the agency’s traffic enforcers use the speed guns round-the-clock to detect overspeeding vehicles along Metro Manila roads, including Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City. “Our speed guns are used on a 24/7 basis... During the day, we can record photos and videos of errant vehicles. During the night, we can detect overspeeding vehicles and immediately apprehend them," he said in a statement on Wednesday night. Tolentino’s statement clarified MMDA deputy chairperson Alex Cabanilla’s testimonies during the House committee on Metro Manila development’s inquiry on the status of the implementation of traffic rules along Commonwealth Avenue — the so-called killer highway — on Wednesday morning. During the hearing, Cabanilla, as well as MMDA lawyer Victor Nunez, said the speed guns do not function well at night, adding that the images they could capture are blurred and difficult to identify. The House probe came almost two weeks after University of the Philippines professor and veteran journalist Lourdes Estella Simbulan was killed in a vehicular accident along Commonwealth Avenue. Tolentino likewise clarified reports that the MMDA can only apprehend five erring vehicles with their five speed guns at a time, saying that the agency can apprehend up to 600 overspeeding motorists in an hour. Tolentino also explained that under contact apprehension, MMDA speed gun operators work with a partner who radios the plate number of overspeeders to the MMDA enforcers who immediately apprehend the vehicle. He also clarified that each speed gun costs P450,000.00, not P200,000.00 as reportedly stated by Cabanilla. — KBK, GMA News