Mindanaotoday.com | LTO-10 assures drivers amid license validity expiration
By: Franck Dick Rosete
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – To ensure that the drivers in the region are safe from penalties amid the pronouncement to extend the validity of the drivers’ licenses that will expire starting April 24, the Land Transportation Office-10 (LTO-10) has assured it is closely coordinating with the LTO-deputized personnel in other law enforcement agencies.
Ferdinand Flores, LTO-10 spokesperson, confirmed that they already received the memorandum pertaining to the said matter from the LTO central office and have already informed other law enforcement agencies, such as the Roads and Traffic Administration (RTA) in this city and the Highway Patrol Group (HPG) of the Philippine National Police (PNP).
“Gipahibalo sila nga naay extension kay dili mana mahimo nga dakpon nila kay okay man sa taas (They [other law enforcement agencies] were informed that there’s an extension because they can’t apprehend them [drivers] since it’s okay from the [central office],” Flores said in a phone interview on Monday, April 24.
LTO has extended the validity of the drivers’ licenses that will expire starting Monday, April 24, until October 31, as the said agency faces a decreasing supply of plastic cards, saying that all penalties for late renewal would be waived.
Individuals who have expiring driver’s licenses on the specified date will no longer be required to process for a renewal until October 31.
However, for those people who really want to renew their licenses despite the extension, Flores said, they will utilize the LTO’s official receipt as proof.
According to the LTO central office, the utilization of the official receipt would be much more applicable to those first-time individuals who are planning to get a driver’s license.
The official receipt must have the complete information of the holder, a unique QR (quick response) code, and a screenshot of the front and back copies of the license.
The LTO-10 spokesperson also assures coordination with the police authorities, apart from HPG.
Maj. Joann Navarro, spokesperson of the Police Regional Office of Northern Mindanao, said police officers, who are LTO-deputized, confiscate drivers’ licenses whenever there are individuals involved in a vehicular accident.
“An expired driver’s license is prima facie evidence nga naay (that there’s) negligence na nahitabo (that happened),” Navarro said in a text message on Monday.
Santino Aguilar, chief of the LTO-10 law enforcement section and operations division, said there are a total of 297 police personnel of the PNP Northern Mindanao who were LTO-deputized, including from the HPG-10.
But he clarified that not all LTO-deputized police personnel would be issued with the Temporary Operator’s Permit (TOP), as only the team leaders are provided with said citation document.
Last year, there were RTA personnel in this city who were deputized by the LTO-10, but Aguilar said they still haven’t renewed their deputation as of this time.
James Andrade, RTA spokesperson, said the plan to have deputies or to be renewed as LTO deputy has always been their prior concept for the office, and they were still waiting for the endorsement from the Traffic Enforcement Division.
“As to the number of personnel to be deputized, it will be based on the endorsement submitted, especially to our concerned division, the Enforcement Division,” Andrade said in a text message.
Under section 3.4 of the DILG-DOTC Joint Memorandum Circular No. 01, series of 2008, it states that local government units (LGU) “can issue traffic citation tickets, but only the LTO and their deputized agents can confiscate driver’s licenses.”
Based on the latest data, the LTO central office has only 147,522 plastic cards left, which will probably last until the end of the current month.
Flores said once the problem of the plastic card supply has been fixed, as early as October 31, they will immediately inform the public, but they will still follow the October 31 extension. (MT)
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