LTO: Apprehension of Kaohsiung buses illegal

CEBU, Philippines - Since the apprehension is deemed illegal, the Land Transportation Office (LTO-7) released yesterday the licenses confiscated from the drivers of the eight Kaohsiung buses held by the police personnel in Barili last Monday for lack of registration documents.

The said apprehension, according to LTO-7, is definitely illegal as the police personnel violated section 29, Confiscation of driver’s licenses, of Republic Act 4136 or the Land Transportation and Traffic Code.

Aden M. Belza, Officer-In-Charge of the Operations Division and head of the adjudication, said that after studying the incident report submitted by the apprehending police personnel, he has discovered some technicalities that made the operation illegal.

“The primary reason why we say it’s illegal is because of the technicalities incurred. But first I want to clarify that dili necessary na di pwede mupara because with respect to the police questioning the identity of the vehicles, they can do that,” Belza said.

“But then, under Section 29 of RA 4136, it is said that law enforcement and peace officers duly designated by the Commissioner shall, in apprehending any driver for violations of this Act, confiscate the license of the driver concerned and issue a receipt prescribed and issued by the Commission, which shall authorize the driver to operate a motor vehicle for a period not exceeding 72 hours from the time and date of issue of said receipt.”

Belza said that first, the apprehending officers are not deputized by LTO as he checked in their records that LTO-7 has no deputized enforcers in Barili, and second, they did not issue any receipt or the Temporary Operator’s Permit (TOP) because they do not have a TOP in the first place since they are not deputized enforcers.

Belza said that it will be up to the supervisor of these police personnel to impose sanctions on them.

“Basta if hey will ask the comment of the LTO, we will say that what they did was illegal,” Belza said.

City Planning and Development Coordinator Engineer Paul Villarete said that the police committed a usurpation of authority and functions for doing something that is beyond their power.

Villarete, who is also the coordinator of the country program for children (CPC6) of UNICEF, criticized what the police in Barili did for holding the children and starving them for four hours.

He said there must be a line drawn between arrest, due to suspected illegal activity, from apprehension for traffic violation.

“I deplore the actions of the policemen because no amount of reason could warrant the detention of children,” Villarete said.

“They could have just get the license of the drivers and let them go so they could eat their lunch, or if they want, they could drive them to the group’s destination. That, they could have done if they are thinking of the welfare of the children. We hope that the provincial government will be more child-friendly next time,” Villarete added.

City Administrator Francisco “Bimbo” Fernandez said that the city government is now working harder to follow up the registration of the 22 remaining unregistered Kaoshiung buses.

Fernandez said that as soon as the city could pay P92,000 to the LTO, the registration for the 11 buses will be released immediately.

The registration for the remaining 11 buses is still underway but Fernandez said they hope the LTO will work on it immediately. The registration of the buses is being processed at the LTO central office in Manila. (FREEMAN NEWS)