Extortion rackets of cops and LTO

Next to BIR and Customs, the Land Transportation Office is the government’s highest revenue earner, collecting close to P9 billion a year from 4.8 million vehicle registrations and 3.3 million driver’s licenses. Yet it is poorly equipped, its personnel are ill trained. And these twin woes of ineptness give rise to corruption.

Take this driver’s beef about the LTO branch in Imus, Cavite: "Is it normal for license renewal to take three hours? We sit on benches like plane passengers waiting for a flight. When our name is finally called, we are made to walk ten minutes to another building for drug test, plus another long walk to yet another building for physical tests. Then, we are told to proceed to Window 14 at the back of the first building to wait for photographing, processing, and our turn to pay – this time with no seats."

Imus’s is not the only disintegrated LTO unit. And its poor work and facilities are the pools on which fixers thrive: P250, no need to line up.

Another complaint from an executive in Biñan, Laguna: "In renewing my license, a note popped up on the computer screen about a traffic citation in Feb. 2003. They refused to entertain me because I allegedly had not settled the fine. I told them I had, and that’s why I got my license back. They insisted that I must have bribed my way out of the scrape; otherwise the note wouldn’t be on my record. Truth is, I have forgotten how much I paid for the fine and have lost the receipt. I ended up paying P1,250 more for my renewal – P500 for the fine, P750 supposedly for ignoring it – a high price for not keeping my ticket two-and-a-half years ago."

Computers work on the principle of GIGO: garbage in, garbage out. Nobody bothered to delete his citation after payment of the fine. Some other driver would have offered cash under the table, much lower than P1,250, to get it over and done with.

Complaint 3: "The police has this no plate-no travel rule. Yet the LTO takes months to produce license plates for brand-new vehicles. I wanted to get my plate fast; they ‘solicited’ P2,500 from me."

There’s no receipt for that fast-lane fee, of course. And while we’re at it, by what law can the LTO give owners of cars bought in Subic auctions a hard time to renew their yearly registrations?

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License and registration blues are puny compared to street dangers that drivers and car owners face. This e-mail came from a carjack victim, an ex-boss’ cousin who doesn’t want to be identified because the robbers have his home address, phone number and other personal info:

"Finally I am able to get over the shock to write about my encounter in August. I was driving home in Quezon City from a late club meeting when a car with blinkers cut my path. Four men got off, aimed M-16 rifles at me, and ordered me to open the door. I thought they were cops in civvies who mistook me for someone else. But when they commanded me to board their car and demanded my wallet and valuables, I realized they were robbers. To make a long story short, they threw me off at Macapagal Avenue in Pasay at 3 a.m., but not before cleaning out my ATM account, roughing me up, and stealing my car."

And this, from a friend’s kin: "If your kids drive late at night, tell them to be careful or avoid Gilmore and Broadway Avenues, New Manila, QC. Last Sept. 9 around midnight, I was driving my girlfriend home when, upon turning onto Gilmore from E. Rodriguez Avenue, a green Nissan Sentra with sirens blaring and spotlight blazing forced me to stop. Three men with M-16 rifles ordered us to board their car, and took my Honda CRV. A fourth man was on the wheel. They took our ATM cards, credit cards, watches, jewelry, cell phones, even our ID cards. They threatened to shoot us if we didn’t divulge our PINs, so they spent the night withdrawing from several banks before dropping us off in Pasay at 2 a.m. with only the clothes on our back. Thank God we’re still alive."

A third victim, also in QC, elicited tidbits from the police: "Dozens of carjacks have been reported since January. The usual areas are Commonwealth Avenue near Tandang Sora flyover; Quezon Avenue underpass at EDSA; side streets of Morato and Timog Avenues; West Triangle and Teachers Village. Sometimes, the carjackers are in two vehicles that sandwich the victim’s car. More often, they use only one car, with police blinkers. They also strike in Pasig, Mandaluyong, San Juan and Pasay, usually between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m. Last Aug. 25, they shot in the thigh a 26-year-old woman, the daughter of a Zambales judge, when she told them to stop hurting her young nephew. Let’s pray she recover soon from fractured femur. Before that, they tried to rob the son of a police general. Fortunately his driver said he was a cop, so they let them through – but only after demanding their ID cards. Other victims: a priest, a moneychanger, a married couple with their young daughter, another couple."

I add this. A friend’s daughter, a journalist, was on her way home late one night two years ago along Libis when an armed man flagged her down. Thinking he was a drunk, she stepped on it. The man fired a rifle, shattering her windshields. Fortunately she was unhurt. My friend has since moved her to America.

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And finally, this tip-off from an angry reader: "Today I saw a white Nissan Pathfinder, plate number SFZ 607, illegally equipped with a police siren, in the vicinity of EDSA corner Ortigas Avenue, around 3 p.m. In the past months I have compiled a list of other private cars with illegal sirens: a van, WRF 447; black Nissan Patrol, XKH 253; black Ford Expedition, XED 954; dark blue Honda Accord, UFZ 711; white Daewoo Prince, WKE 754; gray Toyota Corona, UEL 493; black Ford Expedition, XHJ 321."

High government officials most likely own those vehicles. Do their sirens exempt them from carjackers? If so, the LTO might as well allow all other motorists to sport police gadgets.

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I thank the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas for honoring this print journalist of 27 years with the Golden Dove award for Best Radio Public Affairs Program Host (Sapol, Saturdays, 8-10 a.m., DWIZ (882-AM).