Vestige of Martial Law syndrome

Before proceeding to my topic for today, allow me to welcome to our city the last group of officials from various local government units in Bohol participating in the Seminar for Local Legislators which I helped organize for the DILG, in cooperation with the Office of the Ombudsman and the Civil Service Commission. Whenever we bump into them, let us to make them feel that we are a hospitable lot.

 The other day, my son, Byron sent an SOS. A team of law enforcement personnel from the traffic command pulled him over along F. Cabahug Street and drew a citation ticket for him containing diverse alleged violations. He felt it was not proper because, to him, he did not commit any infraction.

 I am not like the mayor of a nearby city, who would quickly spread his protective mantle each time his son figured in any unwholesome incident, but I believed I should try to listen to the plea of my son, for which reason I rushed to his side. While in transit, I gathered as much information as I could in the hope that I would know what to do and how to face the situation.

 The traffic officers, (I have their names but there is no point mentioning them here now) signaled for my son to stop. He complied. Without any greetings at all, they informed my son that the car did not have a sticker from the Land Transportation Office indicating its yearly renewal.

 True enough, when Byron got down, he noticed the absence of the sticker. He later swore to me it was the first time he realized that our car did not carry the yearly sticker. The officers then asked for the Official Receipt and proceeded to inquire from him whether we bought the car brand new or we were second hand owners. They even questioned him where we obtained the unit, as if hinting it could be one of those vehicles car-jacked somewhere in the country and sold in our city. They were questions that rattled Byron.

 While my son was still getting the Official Receipt, the officers got his driver’s license and continued to raise questions as if Byron was under a kind of intense cross-examination I dished when still in the active practice of law. Byron, trying to suppress his panic, informed the policemen that we bought our Grandis brand new from the Cebu Mitsubishi dealer few years ago. Then, to his relief, he discovered that the Official Receipt carried the entry “No Sticker available” stamped apparently by the issuing Land Transportation Office. And so, he pointed this out quickly to the officer. Because the police barked at my son that we should have followed up the issuance of the sticker, Byron pleaded that he should be given time to claim the sticker from the LTO.

 The officers went around the car. Pressure. They inspected the back part of the plate “HIQ 888” as if looking for another plate and even asked about the number, to which question my son could only refer them to me as the one who secured it.

 At that time, they charged my son for driving without buckling up the safety belt. Incidentally, Byron, is the only one in my family diligent enough not to drive without wearing the safety belt but he knew that he was in for a rough morning. Indeed, the officers wrote down on the citation ticket: (a) the absence of the LTO sticker; (b) no Certificate of Registration, (because the startled Byron could not find it); (c) not wearing safety belt. When he was asked to sign the ticket, that was when he called me.

 At the scene, I got the OR and requested the officers to delete that entry about it from the citation ticket. I pleaded that we got back to the LTO for it. No deal. Then, I fumbled thru the glove compartment and got the photo copy of the certificate of the car’s registration explaining that the original was still with the bank, the car being encumbered yet. No deal also. I faced a group of men still harboring martial law syndrome and that was when I told them that should they act unreasonably despotically, I could become the source of their biggest legal problems. It was then that they calmed down. They returned to my son his driver’s license said everything was alright.

 I understand that a way (although this is crude and unscientific) for our officers to search for car-jacked vehicles is to establish checks points and pull over vehicles. But, should they find out that cars have legitimate and clean papers, they need not find other faults and attach them to the driver’s as their cover. They should be gentlemen enough and subject the drivers to no further discomfort. If only it happened that way that other day, I would have been the first person to praise them for doing a good job. As it was, I believe that some of our officers need some more lessons in humility and brinkmanship.

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