The Cebu City Council needs to coordinate with stakeholders including the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) if it is serious in passing a proposed Cebu City ordinance that will allow traffic enforcers to seize the licenses of errant public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers.
The opposition of transport groups to the measure authored by Councilors Eugenio Gabuya and Margot Osmeña is supported by the LTO whose regional officials cited Section 29 of Republic Act 4136 or the Transportation and Traffic Code of the Philippines which states that only enforcers deputized by the LTO are authorized to confiscate the licenses of violators specifically PUV drivers.
We hazard a guess that the ordinance stems from the experience of Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu City traffic enforcers who reported that they were being ignored by passenger jeepney drivers whom they reprimanded for violating traffic rules.
The defiance of these drivers stems from the fact that the LTO supposedly withdrew their authority to issue temporary operators permit (TOP) or traffic citation tickets which would reflect on the records of these drivers.
Under the proposed ordinance, the traffic enforcers will issue a citation ticket to replace the license confiscated from the driver, and this will be good for five days until perhaps the violator pays the corresponding fines.
Still, the ordinance does on the surface appear to be violating the national traffic code, and if the intention is to ease traffic and crack down on violators, then the LTO can simply authorize the city’s traffic enforcers to issue tickets as well as confiscate licenses upon the mayor’s request.
The confiscation of licenses, however, had been opposed by transport groups who contend that the drivers won’t earn income if their licenses were confiscated from them.
They also contend that there are too many signs prohibiting the unloading and loading of passengers in the downtown area and the designated stops are occupied by illegally parked vehicles of motorists or even PUV drivers.
While there is cause for concern that traffic laws can be abused by opportunistic traffic enforcers, the fact remains that without these laws and without proper enforcement of them, there would be chaos in the streets with everyone left navigating the roads at their own risk.
Transport groups have not acknowledged this, preferring to be left to their own devices and given free rein without accountability to the government or to their customers, the riding public.
The ordinance is still being processed and is open for public deliberation, and the proponents have signified willingness to listen to all sides.
In the meantime, the Cebu City government and other local governments in Metro Cebu can sit down with LTO and other stakeholders to discuss better ways to discipline errant drivers.