THE land Transportation Office in Central Visayas (LTO-7) has warned all local government units (LGUs) to get rid of unnecessary sirens, dome lights and blinkers in government owned vehicles especially those not covered by proper permits.
LTO-7 Regional Director Victor Emmanuel Caindec said the LGUs have 15 days to submit a list of their vehicles which have been installed with the said devices and justify the need to have such.
Under Presidential Decree no. 96, only vehicles of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), LTO, Philippine National Police (PNP), Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) and hospital ambulances including rescue vehicles from disaster management units are allowed to have the above devices.
“What we are asking them to do is that if they have not declared their vehicles to be officially under these functions, they should remove it,” said Caindec.
“We are also requesting them to submit the list of all motor vehicles that the subject sirens, blinkers or dome lights were mounted to LTO for inspection, approval and proper tagging. If they do not do this, we will deputize the PNP to apprehend their vehicles and if necessary, impound them,” Caindec added.
Caindec said that government-owned vehicles having unnecessary signalling devices has been rampant and may be prone to illegal use.
“It’s not just rampant, it may be used for illegal purposes. Remember there was a case in the past nga naay nadakpan nga ambulansya gikargahan og drugs,” said Caindec.
Caindec said the apprehension of government vehicles with illegal signalling devices will start once they are done with the inspection of the submitted list of vehicles.
“The 15 days is only intended for the submission of the list of vehicles. We will inspect and evaluate then we can proceed on tagging the vehicle registrations if those vehicles are allowed to use the signalling devices. Then we will tell the police that they can proceed with the apprehension,” Caindec explained.