HPG-7 on motorists without plates: We will only ‘advise’ for now

Police Lieutenant Colonel Wilbert Parilla, chief of the Highway Patrol Group in Central Visayas (HPG-7) | CDN Photo/ Emmariel Ares

CEBU CITY, Philippines – The Highway Patrol Group in Central Visayas (HPG-7) will be delaying their apprehension of motorists without license plates following the extension on the use of improvised and temporary plates to December 31.

Instead, they will purely be advising the motorists to claim their license plates from the Land Transportation Office (LTO) before the deadline.

“With the advice of the LTO nga duna tay extension until December 31 so ato nang gi-advise ang atong [personnel] in every checkpoints nga atong gihimo, kung duna tay masita nga walay mga plate numbers ato silang gi-advise nga ilaha gyung i-secure na ang ilahang mga plate numbers,” said HPG-7 chief Police Lieutenant Colonel Wilbert Parilla.

“Because ang LTO is really working hard also nga maprovide or mahatag na ang mga assigned plate numbers especially katong mga sakyanan nga duna nay assigned plate numbers,” he added.

Initially, LTO gave motorists until September 1 to secure their license plates in order to avoid being apprehended and issued a show cause order if the dealer can prove that the plate has already been delivered to the owner.

READ: How to claim license plates in Central Visayas? Read on!

The penalty for this violation is P5,000.

LTO announced on Sunday that the new deadline is December 31.

With this, HPG-7 will be delaying their initial operation to assist in the apprehension of violators spotted at their checkpoints until the new given date.

In a previous interview, Parilla said that they will be issuing a Temporary Operator’s Permit (TOP) to violators.

HPG-7 personnel attended a meeting on Friday, September 6, to understand better the implementation of the “no plate, no travel” policy. | CDN Photo/ Emmariel Ares

In order to enlighten their personnel of the implementation of the “no plate, no travel policy,” personnel of the HPG-7 attended a seminar on Friday, September 6. 

The meeting also served as a deputization seminar for their 12 new personnel.

According to Parilla, they have observed a high number of motor vehicles without license plates during their recent checkpoints.

Most of these vehicles are motorcycles, he stated.

Despite being short of personnel, Parilla assured that their operations remain relentless, particularly in fulfilling their primary mandate of anti-carnapping.

He said that HPG-7 will also be coordinating with territorial units, like municipal police stations, to assist with checkpoints. /clorenciana