LTO Chief: Bawal ang 'baklas plaka'

Land Transportation Office (LTO) Chief Jay Art Tugade has heard enough.

Responding to public outcry, the LTO Chief releases a memo making it illegal for law enforcers and deputized agents to confiscate motor vehicle license plate confiscation during traffic violation apprehensions.

The latest memo from the LTO is in line with Joint Administrative Order (JAO) No. 2014-01. It stipulates that a driver's license, student permit, or motor vehicle can only be flagged if the apprehending law enforcer cannot immediately administer the relevant penalty to the vehicle or driver.

"In all instances where the penalty includes the confiscation, suspension or revocation of a driver's license or student permit, as well as the suspension or revocation of the registration of a motor vehicle or impounding the motor vehicle, and the same cannot be immediately implemented, the driver's license, the student permit, or motor vehicle, as the case may be, shall be placed on alarm until the proper penalty may be implemented," states the JAO, which LTO Chief Tugade reiterates.

Without equivocation, the memo details that all LTO law enforcers and authorized agents are forbidden from confiscating license plates if they cannot impound the apprehended motor vehicles.

The prompt response by LTO Chief Tugade shows that the agency takes quick action to address the needs of motorists and reminds the public that the central command center can swiftly relay information about flagged motor vehicles to law enforcement officers in the field.