LTO-7 preps traffic personnel of Cebu City for deputization

CEBU CITY, Philippines — There will be some personnel from the Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO) who will be deputized by the Land Transportation Office in Central Visayas (LTO-7) soon.

However, this is only when they qualify or pass the examination conducted by the LTO.

Around 40 CCTO personnel attended a training seminar on Thursday, Dec. 5, in Cebu City, to gain knowledge about several transportation laws, traffic regulations, and road rules.

The training seminar is conducted by batch, and more or less 600 CCTO personnel will undergo the same training and examination which will be conducted in the following weeks, Jongoy said.

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After this seminar, the CCTO personnel will have to take an examination. Those who qualify will be part of the LTO’s deputized personnel, where they can issue temporary operator’s permits (TOPs) in accordance with LTO-related laws, except apprehending colorum vehicles.

Some subjects that were taught to the personnel on Thursday include RA 4136 or the law the compiles relative the laws related to LTO and traffic rules, Road Speed Limiter Act, Motorcycle Helmet Act, Seat Belts Use Act, Anti-Drunk and Drugged Driving Act, Child Safety Safety in Motor Vehicles Act, and LTO Road Safety Advocacy, among others.

Lawyer Francesco Jongoy, CCTO assistant head, told reporters on Thursday that their office sent a request to the LTO regional office earlier this year for this seminar, and fortunately it was approved.

Jongoy said that they made the request after noticing that there was a “need” for the CCTO personnel to be equipped with the required capacity building seminars “not only to do their job in the streets but also to enforce national laws.”

Jongoy added that if ever the personnel would fail to pass the exam, at least they would have the knowledge and would soon have the familiarity of these national laws.

“We know that our ordinances, most especially our traffic code, are limited only to administrative fines up to P5,000. But we know that national laws have stricter regulations and rules and some of them even require and confiscate the driver’s license and issuance of the TOP (temporary operator’s permit),” Jongoy added.

Moreover, Jongoy said that it would be “helpful” especially if there are CCTO personnel who would qualify because it would help the City Government prepare for the Sinulog celebration this January 2025.

In a separate phone interview with LTO-7 Director Glen Galario on Thursday, he said that this deputization training seminar was important as well to their agency since it could “augment” their manpower.

Due to their small number of LTO personnel, they also tapped the Highway Patrol Group (HPG), a police unit under the Philippine National Police (PNP) to help them reprimand motorists who would violate traffic rules.

As for the colorum vehicles, Galario confirmed that only the LTO personnel could enforce it.

“Kani silang nakaapil og seminar, murag at least na refresh ilang huna-huna nga may kalambigitan aning balaod trapiko. Dili buot ipasabot nga silang tanan atong i-deputize,” Galario said.

(Those who joined the seminar, it seems at least their memories are refreshed when it comes to traffic laws. It also does not mean that all of them would be deputized.)

He reiterated that only those personnel who qualify would be deputized which would also be subject for approval by LTO Chief Assistant Secretary Vigor Mendoza II, upon the recommendation of the regional director.

TAGS: CCTO personnel, deputized, LTO-7