Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso announced on Thursday the city government is granting amnesty for all delinquent holders of ordinance violation receipts (OVRs) or those with accumulated penalties, interests, and surcharges.
This is good news to traffic violators whose licenses have been previously confiscated by the Manila Traffic and Parking Bureau (MTPB) or any commissioned officer authorized by the City of Manila or who are facing cases because of the violations they committed, Domagoso said.
The amnesty is contained in City Ordinance 8699, which Domagoso signed after it was passed by the Manila City Council headed by Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna-Pangan as its presiding officer, Majority Floor Leader Joel Chua, and President Pro Tempore Jong Isip.
In this light, Domagoso directed MTPB Director Dennis Viaje to apprise his personnel in charge of processing OVRs about the said ordinance.
“The accumulated penalties, interests and surcharges of the violation ticket shall be waived. Hence, the holders of OVRs shall pay only the original amount of violation. Payments made under the amnesty shall be unconditional. Thus, payments under protest shall not be allowed,” Domagoso said.
Domagoso said the amnesty may be availed of within 90 days from the effectivity of the ordinance and “thereafter, no further amnesty shall be granted, and the accumulated penalties will be paid in accordance with the original computation of the penalties, interests and surcharges.”
Even holders of OVRs with pending cases relative to their traffic violation are also eligible to avail of the amnesty.
“Those who avail of the amnesty …shall be exempt from criminal, civil and administrative liability arising from violation of traffic rules and regulations under Ordinance No. 8092 or the Manila Traffic Code, without prejudice to the prosecution of other violations under existing laws and ordinances, rules and regulations,” Domagoso explained.
According to Domagoso, the amnesty is aimed at helping the motorists in this time of the pandemic, but he also called upon them to always follow traffic rules and to not violate any regulations ever again.
Almost simultaneously, Moreno also signed a city ordinance increasing the salary grades of nurses employed in the city of Manila, as a befitting tribute to the heroism they have been showing amid the pandemic.
“It is our small way of showing our gratitude to our frontliners who have been risking even their own lives and safety just to keep us healthy,” the mayor said.
Covered by the salary increases are nurses serving in the six city-run hospitals and those assigned at the Manila Health Department headed by Dr. Arnold Pangan.
