MMDA's power to confiscate driver's licenses?

Unlike the legislative bodies of local government units (LGUs), there is no provision in R.A. 7924 that empowers the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) or its Council to "enact ordinances, approve resolutions and appropriate funds for the general welfare" of the inhabitants of Metro Manila. Thus, MMDA may not order the opening of Neptune St. in the Bel-Air Subdivision to public traffic, as it does not possess delegated police power. (G.R. No. 135962. March 27, 2000)

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7924: AN ACT CREATING THE METROPOLITAN MANILA DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY, DEFINING ITS POWERS AND FUNCTIONS, PROVIDING FUNDS THEREFOR AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. Republic Act No. 7924 declares the Metropolitan Manila as a special development and administrative region comprising of cities and municipalities in the area under the direct supervision of the President of the Philippines, and creating the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority to replace the Metropolitan Manila Authority which was constituted under and by virtue of Executive Order No. 392, dated January 9, 1990. RA 7924 invests the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority with responsibilities for the effective delivery of metro-wide services in Metropolitan Manila.

The MMDA is not a political unit of government. The power delegated to the MMDA is that given to the Metro Manila Council to promulgate administrative rules and regulations in the implementation of the MMDA's functions. There is no grant of authority to enact ordinances and regulations for the general welfare of the inhabitants of the metropolis.

Sec. 5(f), R.A. 7924 does not grant the MMDA the power to confiscate and suspend or revoke drivers' licenses without need of any other legislative enactment. However, the same law vests the MMDA with the duty to enforce existing traffic rules and regulations. Thus, where there is a traffic law or regulation validly enacted by the legislature or those agencies to whom legislative power has been delegated (the City of Manila, in this case), the MMDA is not precluded — and in fact is duty-bound — to confiscate and suspend or revoke drivers' licenses in the exercise of its mandate of transport and traffic management, as well as the administration and implementation of all traffic enforcement operations, traffic engineering services and traffic education programs. (G.R. No. 130230. April 15, 2005)The MMDA was intended to coordinate services with metro-wide impact that transcend local political boundaries or would entail huge expenditures if provided by the individual LGUs, especially with regard to transport and traffic management, and [the Supreme Court is] aware of the valiant efforts of the MMDA to untangle the increasingly traffic-snarled roads of Metro Manila. But these laudable intentions are limited by the MMDA's enabling law, which we can but interpret, and petitioner must be reminded that its efforts in this respect must be authorized by a valid law, or ordinance, or regulation arising from a legitimate source. (G.R. No. 130230. April 15, 2005)

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (Filipino: Pangasiwaan sa Pagpapaunlad ng Kalakhang Maynila, MMDA), is an agency of the Republic of the Philippines created embracing the cities of Manila, Quezon City, Caloocan, Pasay, Mandaluyong, Makati, Pasig, Marikina, Muntinlupa, Las Piñas, Parañaque, Valenzuela, Malabon, Taguig, Navotas and San Juan and the municipality of Pateros. Metropolitan Manila, or the National Capital Region, is constituted into a special development and administrative region subject to direct supervision of the Office of the President of the Philippines. The MMDA office is located at Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) corner Orense Street, Guadalupe, Makati, Philippines. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Manila_Development_Authority