NCR mayors OK postponement of driver’s license confiscation

The mayors in the National Capital Region (NCR) have agreed to suspend the confiscation of driver’s licenses.

The initiative was announced following the Metro Manila Council (MMC) meeting over the weekend with the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) on the proposed single ticketing system for the NCR.

Apart from that, the Metro Manila LGU units shall also impose a moratorium on interconnectivity with the Land Transportation Office (LTO) to quickly identify drivers with multiple violations.

Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Acting Chairman Atty. Romando Artes said that the mayors heeded to the call of DILG Secretary Benhur Abalos regarding confiscation of driver’s license of erring motorists.

For his part, Abalos expressed gratitude to the NCR mayors for adhering to his appeal. "I thank the Metro Manila mayors for heeding to my appeal. I would also like to reiterate that we maintain the authority of the LTO to confiscate driver's license as the leading law enforcement agency in implementing traffic laws and the safety of the motoring public," the local government chief was quoted as saying.

 For his part, LTO Chief Assistant Secretary Jay Art Tugade shared that the agency has laid down the technical requirements for the MMDA and LGU units to tag and record traffic violations.

 "Once the single ticketing system is finalized, the LTO will strictly implement its demerit point system to be able to properly monitor driver’s license records. License should only be issued to deserving and qualified drivers," Tugade explained. 

The MMDA chair said that for the meantime, no driver’s license shall be confiscated while the LTO is working on its interconnectivity.

"Every LGU in NCR will pass an ordinance on this matter. For now, the existing ordinance/traffic laws of each LGU shall prevail. Subject to the passage of an ordinance, they are allowed to continue to confiscate driver’s licenses of erring motorists," Artes noted.

Meanwhile, Artes said that the MMDA — together with the LTO and 17 LGU units in Metro Manila — is set to finalize the integration of the single ticketing system. Through the aforementioned program, traffic violators in the NCR can conveniently settle their penalties through Bayad Centers.

"We are finalizing the guidelines for the single ticketing system which includes the establishment of traffic adjudication court per LGU, incontestability of traffic violations, among others," Artes noted. 

The single ticketing system is targeted to be implemented in the first quarter of the incoming year.

Photos from Ruben D. Manahan IV, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority

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