It took a long time coming, but the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) finally announced that medical doctors are now exempted from the number coding scheme.
The MMDA clarified however that the exemption applies only to physical apprehension “where the identity of the affected medical doctor driving or riding in the vehicle could be verified on site.
“In so far as non-contact apprehension is concerned, the appropriate protest shall be filed with MMDA’s Traffic Adjudication Division where the driver or passenger medical doctor shall prove by the presentation of evidence that he/she was on board at the time the vehicle was tagged for UVVRP,” MMDA chair Romando Artes said.
In a memorandum issued on Tuesday, Artes said the MMDA “acknowledges and values the services rendered by Medical Doctors in the fight against the COVID-19 virus including their role in the maintenance and preservation of the country’s health care system.”
“Relative hereto, any vehicle driven or transporting a Medical Doctor who is flagged down for violation of the Unified Vehicle Volume Reduction Program (UVVRP) shall not be issued a citation ticket and shall be allowed to carry on to his/her destination if he/she can present a valid and updated Professional Regulatory Commission Identification Card (PRC I.D.) at the time of apprehension,” the memorandum stated.
The MMDA’s number coding system was devised to keep vehicles out of major thoroughfares on certain days based on the last digit of the license plate.
For this purpose, license plates with numbers ending in 1 and 2 are banned from travelling in the metropolis on Mondays, 3 and 4 on Tuesdays, 5 and 6 on Wednesdays, 7 and 8 on Thursdays, and 9 and 0 on Fridays.