Manila Standard Today reports that Atty. Francis Tolentino, head of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA), said on Tuesday, January 31, that "he had asked five award-winning inventors to create 'Robocops' that could detect all types of traffic violations and even spot meat that did not pass government inspection." He said, "The Robocop will spell the end of the kotong (corrupt) cops."

In a Philstar.com article, it was revealed that the inventors Tolentino was referring to were all high school students from Bulacan. A statement released by the MMDA disclosed: "Tolentino had met the students from Dr. Yanga’s Colleges Inc. (DYCI) in Bocaue town, who presented their award-winning robot, 'Man’s All-Around Global Interactive Solutions' or MAGIS."

The report noted: "The DYCI robotics team—composed of high school students Alexandra Mae Guevarra, Claire Receli Reñosa, and Chelsea Andrea Morales and their coaches Beryl Cruz and Romyr Gimeno—recently placed fourth in the annual World Robot Olympiad held in Abu Dhabi with their five-foot tall MAGIS robot." The MAGIS robot is designed to (among other things) detect floods and monitor people's blood pressure.

According to Philstar.com, "at their meeting, Tolentino challenged the team to create a robot traffic enforcer for the MMDA that would be stationed at intersections with traffic signal lights." The report added: "Tolentino wants the MMDA robot traffic enforcers to detect motorists who will beat the red light and those who would commit other infractions. He pledged full support to the team for this project."

For more on this story, log on to Manila Standard Today Online and Philstar.com.