HPG personnel and local police during a checkpoint in Barangay Guadalupe in Carcar City. | File photo from Michael Gingoyon, HPG provincial chief
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Highway Patrol Group (HPG) said it noted an increase of about 40 to 50 percent in traffic apprehensions from January to March this year, largely due to its intensified operations on the road.
Police Major Michael Gingoyon, HPG provincial chief, said they logged around 1,572 impounded motorcycles, 58 impounded motor vehicles, and have a weekly average of 1,800 to 2,000 apprehensions due to traffic violations in the first four months of the year.
“Mas nitaas gyud sila og more or less 40 to 50 percent kay mas nigrabi man ang amoang operation karon gud under sa leadership of Police Brigadier General Tagum kanang iyang initiative nga Oplan Bitag Sasakyan and the support of our regional chief Police Colonel Erwin Rebellon,” Gingoyon said.
(There is an increase of more or less 4o to 50 percent because of the intensified operation under the leadership of Police Brigadier General Tagum and his initiative on Oplan Bitag Sasakyan and the support of our regional chief Police Colonel Erwin Rebellon.)
“Sa una, focus ra gyud mi sa anti-carnapping operation sa HPG. Karon, nihatag mi og way sa Oplan Bitag Sasakyan sa katong mga unregistered vehicles,” he added.
(We previously focus only on anti-carnapping operation in HPG. Now, we give way to Oplan Bitag Sasakyan for those unregistered vehicles.)
‘Oplan Lambat Bitag Sasakyan’ is a nationwide inter-agency campaign led by HPG to enhance efforts on traffic law enforcement.
Since they have limited manpower to conduct all these operations, Gingoyon said that they have coordinated with the local traffic officials to help conduct their simultaneous operations.
“These [impounded vehicles] were turned over to the local traffic [officials] kung asa mi mag conduct og operation. Like sa Danao, amoa na i-turn over ngadto sa local traffic ang mga impounded with issued citation ticket,” he said.
(There [impounded vehicles] were turned over to the local traffic [officials] where we conduct our operation. Like in Danao, we turned over the impounded ones with issued citation tickets to the local traffic.)
Gingoyon disclosed that local government units stand to benefit from their partnership in implementing traffic laws.
“Sa part pod sa local traffic, medyo nalipay pod sila kay mas maka apprehend sila og daghan pag naay highway patrol group. Kay siyempre naay gasupport sa ilaha nga pnp officers…kung sila sila lang, usahay naa gyuy time nga di magpatuo ang driver sa ilaha, usahay daganan lang sila. Once naa gani na ang HPG ngadto, ang tanang mga motor mo pull-over gyud na sila,” he said.
(For the local traffic, they were also glad that they can now apprehend a lot of violators when there are police officers of highway patrol group in the area. If they are on their own, there are times that drivers don’t respect them. Sometimes, others elude their operations. But once there is HPG in the area, all motorcycle drivers pull over.)
Gingoyon added that the more they intensify their operations, the more the public is aware.
Meanwhile, the HPG on April 22 destroyed around 1,400 unauthorized vehicle attachments and accessories amounting to P150,000.
Destruction of unauthorized vehicle attachment and accessories last April 22. | Photo from Michael Gingoyon, HPG provincial chief
Among these accessories were mufflers, LED lights, and blinkers.
Gingoyon said the mufflers destroyed were confiscated around two to three years ago and the illegal LED lights and others were when Tagum assumed office in 2020.
Gingoyon said that for this year, they noticed lesser confiscations of these unauthorized accessories in the province. He believes the public is more compliant on this policy already.
/bmjo
READ: HPG to intensify road safety awareness campaign along TransCentral Highway
/bmjo