ILOILO City – Mayor Jerry P. Treñas assured this city’s compliance to the memorandum issued by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) that only the personnel of Land Transportation Office (LTO) are authorized to confiscate the licenses of erring drivers.
“In compliance with the directive of the DILG secretary that the traffic aides of the LGU are not authorized to confiscate driver’s licenses, the LGU of Iloilo City will refrain from doing so,” said Treñas.
However, the city mayor added that he will endeavor to have all the traffic aides deputized by the LTO.
It can be noted that prior to the DILG order, aside from issuing citation tickets, the personnel of the city’s Transportation Management and Traffic Regulation Office (TMTRO) have been confiscating driver’s licenses of motorists caught violating traffic laws within the city.
Also, the Regional Trial Court (RTC) – Branch 26 previously ruled that the city government’s TMTRO has the power to confiscate driver’s licenses for certain violations.
In a decision dated May 22, 2017, the court junked for lack of merit the petition of Atty. Daniel Cartagena questioning the validity of Regulation Ordinance No. 338, which authorizes policemen and traffic aides to confiscate driver’s licenses.
The court held, among others, that “Section 62 of Republic Act 4136 juxtapose(s) with Ordinance No. 338, contrary to the concept of the petitioner, there is no conflict between the two provisions and complement each other in the exercise of traffic management.”
“The LTO law was approved in 1964 while the Local Government Code under which the ordinance creating the traffic aides was enacted in the 1980s. Traffic aide positions were created to fill a gap when the PNP concentrated only in peace and order. The ordinance of the city was questioned in the RTC and was upheld,” said Treñas.
Meanwhile, TMTRO head Jeck Conlu emphasized that although TMTRO personnel are no longer authorized to confiscate driver’s licenses it does not mean they will also stop apprehending traffic violators.
Conlu said TMTRO personnel will continue their job and will apprehend erring motorists based on traffic laws and local ordinances.
Those who will be caught will still be issued with citation ticket but their licenses will not be confiscated.
But Conlu stressed that violators must settle their penalties at the Treasurer’s Office within 72 hours or else the city hall will alarm the LTO about their violations or will file necessary charges against them in court./PN
