More deputized agents needed to implement current and new traffic laws
Local government units in Central Visayas are encouraged to have more of their own deputized traffic personnel who would enforce traffic laws.
Alita Pulga, regional director of the Land Transportation Office in Central Visayas (LTO-7), made the call as the Anti-Distracted Driving Law took effect yesterday.
Pulga said that they have 502 deputized agents from the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7).
“But still we need more deputized agents as we also continue to enforce the law,” Pulga said in a press briefing in Cebu City.
Joel Maloloy-on, operations head of LTO-7, cited the lack of manpower to implement the current and the new laws and also echoed Pulga’s call for more deputized agents to help them effectively enforce traffic laws such as the Anti-Distracted Driving Law.
Maloloy-on said that the office has only 100 people for law enforcement in the entire region.
“Not all personnel are full time on street operations since they also have other functions in the office,” Maloloy-on told Cebu Daily News.
These include conducting LTO trainings and seminars and information dissemination.
He also said that each police station has three to five deputized agents or an LGU could have at least three deputized agents.
The Anti-Distracted Driving Law bans the use of mobile communication, electronic entertainment and computing devices or gadgets while the vehicle is in motion or stopped momentarily for a red light or at an intersection.
Violators will be fined P5,000.
However, Pulga said that the LTO-7 had not yet apprehended any driver violating the new traffic law as of yesterday.