ENFORCERS ‘CANNOT SEIZE LICENSE’

An official of the LTO in Manila said that the Cebu City ordinance is void from the beginning and is a violation of law After confiscating the license, a deputized agent must issue a temporary operator’s permit to the erring driver Traffic enforcers from

Director Victor Emmanuel Caindec of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) 7 yesterday declined to comment on the Cebu City ordinance authorizing traffic enforcers to confiscate the licenses of erring drivers.

“I have not yet read the ordinance. It’s difficult to comment unless we have read the details,” Caindec said.

An official of the LTO in Manila said that the city ordinance is void from the beginning because this is in violation of Republic Act (RA) 4136, or the Land Transportation Code, which was passed by Congress and approved by the President.

He said no city council can encroach on the power of Congress to pass laws. If they insist, that is ignorance of the law and all those who voted for it can be charged before the Office of the Ombudsman.

It is clear in Paragraph 5, Section 4, Article III of RA 4136 that the LTO, or its deputies (or deputized agents), are authorized to make arrests (or confiscate a driver’s license) for traffic violations, he said.

RA 4136 also provides that local traffic enforcers can endorse to LTO all cases of apprehension for adjudication.

If a deputized agent will confiscate a driver’s license, he must issue a temporary operator’s permit (TOP) to the erring driver so he/she can still drive the vehicle within 72 hours.

The official said that traffic enforcers from the Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO) are not deputized, so they cannot confiscate a driver’s license but can only issue a citation ticket.

RA 4136 also provides that even local traffic enforcers, CCTO enforcers for example, can endorse to LTO all cases of apprehension for adjudication. /