MANILA- The Land Transportation Office (LTO) reminds its traffic enforcer and deputized agents on the prohibition on confiscation of license plate during apprehensions.
LTO Chief Jay Art Tugade issued a memorandum after some motorists expressed outrage concerning license plate confiscation by LTO law enforcers and deputized agent.
The memorandum, signed by LTO Chief Tugade, accentuates the provisions under Joint Administrative Order (JAO) No. 2014-01. This order 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.
Moreover, LTO Chief Tugade emphasized on his memo that all LTO law enforcers and authorized agents are forbidden from confiscating license plates if they cannot impound the apprehended motor vehicles.
LTO Chief Tugade has reassured the public that the agency’s central command center can swiftly relay information about flagged motor vehicles to law enforcement officers in the field.