'7' & '8' not exempted from coding - MMDA

MANILA, Philippines – Vehicles of lawmakers are not exempted from the Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program (UVVRP) popularly known as “number coding,” the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said yesterday.

Vehicles of senators bear the protocol plate 7 while vehicles of members of the House of Representatives have the protocol plate 8. This would effectively ban them from being on the road on Thursdays. 

MMDA chairman Francis Tolentino said MMDA Regulation 96-005, which enforces the number coding, only exempts the following vehicles from the scheme: ambulance, fire trucks, police patrol cars, military vehicles, vehicles with diplomatic plates, school buses, and company shuttle service vehicles.

Vehicles bearing persons needing immediate medical attention, and those used for military relief operations, are likewise exempted from the number coding scheme.

The MMDA has granted exemptions to the vehicles of the President (protocol plate 1), Vice President (plate 2), Senate President (3), House Speaker (4) and Chief Justice (5).

“The number 1 plate is the seal of the nation. And there are no other users of the 2, 3, 4 and 5 plates aside from the Vice President, the Senate President, the House Speaker and the Chief Justice. Unlike the other protocol plates which are attached to many vehicles,” said Tolentino.

Tolentino said the agency would formulate new guidelines on the number coding scheme after discovering that some exemptions have been abused.

The MMDA granted exemptions to 8,897 vehicles from June to September this year. It was discovered that exemptions for 6,393 of these vehicles were secured by government officials for their private vehicles.

Under the number coding scheme, vehicles with license plates ending in 1 and 2 are banned from traveling from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Mondays; vehicles with license plates ending in 3 and 4 on Tuesdays; ending 5 and 6 on Wednesdays; 7 and 8 on Thursdays and 9 and 0 on Fridays.

Vehicles covered by the number coding scheme are allowed on the road during the “window hours” from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

There are, however, no window hours in Makati, Malabon and Las Piñas.

Motorists caught violating the coding scheme would be made to pay a hefty fine and have their licenses confiscated.