MANILA – Fifty-four people were collared by Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) enforcers on the first day of its renewed campaign against littering on Wednesday.

MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino said the violators were released after paying a P500 fine and were only given a warning and an environmental sanitation violation receipt.

He said the move serves as a notice that the MMDA is serious in its campaign to keep Metro Manila clean.

The MMDA enforces caught most of the violators in key intersections along EDSA.

Tolentino said environmental sanitation violation receipts will be issued for 2 weeks before litterbugs will be made to pay a fine.

He said violators with unsettled records will not be able to get a clearance from the National Bureau of Investigation, which is a requirement for job applications and government transactions.

The campaign is the MMDA’s move to enforce the Anti-Littering Law, which was previously implemented from January 1999 to July 2002.

During the said period, the MMDA apprehended a total of 222,956 violators.

A total of 1,583 violators rendered community service, while 20,943 cases were filed in different metropolitan trial courts.

The MMDA collected around P12 million from the violators. The amount was divided accordingly between the agency and the concerned local government units.

The agency suspended the law’s implementation in 2003 amid the need for the authority to implement more pressing programs. – with a report from Abner Mercado, ABS-CBN News