The City Council’s Legislative Monitoring and Evaluation team recommended the amendment of some provisions of Ordinance No. 55, series of 2024 or the city’s anti-colorum measure that are in contrast with the laws, issuances, opinions and department orders as provided by the Baguio City Police Office (BCPO) specifically on the determination on who has the enforcement power and authority to apprehend.
Section 6 of the said ordinance authorizes any member of the Baguio City Police Office (BCPO) to apprehend and confiscate the driver’s license of a person operating a colorum motor vehicle.
Further, it also requires the confiscation of one plate number of the apprehended colorum vehicle, and among the authorized officers to enforce the ordinance are BCPO personnel deputized by the Land transportation Office (LTO).
However, on April 27, 2023, the LTO issued a Memorandum that provided that ‘all LTO law enforcement personnel and its deputized agents shall be prohibited from confiscating motor vehicle license plates in lieu of the physical impoundment of the apprehended motor vehicles.’
Under Section 29 of Republic Act (RA) 4136 or the Land transportation code of the Philippines, peace officers duly designated by the Commissioner shall, in apprehending any driver for violations of the law or of any regulations issued pursuant to the same, or of local traffic rules and regulations, confiscate the license of the driver concerned and issue a receipt prescribed and issued by the Commission.
The BCPO explained that personnel deputized by the LTO, who are acting under the authority of a deputized agent, are mandated to issue temporary operator’s permit when apprehending traffic violations but the said ordinance requires that apprehending officers shall issue traffic citation ticket to apprehended violators.
While Section 6 directs the BCPO to primarily enforce the provisions of the measure, it claimed that the data needed to confirm or verify whether a motor vehicle is colorum is within the Land transportation Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB).
Moreover, based on the latest Department of Justice (DOJ) Opinion, the enforcement of traffic laws, including anti-colorum, lies in the LTO and the Philippine National Police, while LTFRB may coordinate and cooperate with the PNP and LTO in the campaign efforts against colorum vehicles.
The BCPO already coordinated with concerned government agencies and created a joint task group to strengthen its anti-colorum operations in the city. By Dexter A. See
