BACOLOD City – The Bacolod Traffic Authority Office (BTAO) now has deputized personnel who will carry out the confiscation of licenses of erring drivers in this city.
Five BTAO personnel, all regular employees of the city, underwent a two-day seminar for deputization of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) on March 18 and 19, as stipulated under Republic Act No. 4136, or the Land Transportation and Traffic Code.
BTAO deputy officer-in-charge Jose Antonio Robello said apprehended drivers now have the option to choose who they would want to confiscate their driver’s license, following allegations of irregular apprehensions and questioning of the authority of job order casuals of BTAO.
It was reported earlier that United Negros Drivers and Operators Center secretary general Diego Malacad claimed that BTAO enforcers are not qualified to confiscate the driver’s licenses of the apprehended drivers because they are not regular employees of the city.
Robello explained that if a driver is apprehended by any BTAO enforcer and insists that he or she will never allow that enforcer to confiscate his driver’s license and only be issued with a citation ticket, a deputized BTAO enforcer may be called.
The deputized BTAO enforcer will then be the one to confiscate the license and issue a temporary operator’s permit (TOP).
Robello noted that with a citation ticket, which falls under a violation of the city’s traffic ordinance, the penalty is P300. But if a TOP is issued, the penalty for the driver is P3,000.
Deputized BTAO personnel will start their apprehensions as soon as they are issued identification cards from the LTO./PN
