BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan clarified that a portion of the Baguio Athletic Bowl will only be used as an impounding area for apprehended motor vehicles that are issued traffic citation tickets (|TCTs) issued by the local government for violations of existing local ordinances and not for any other purpose beyond it.
The local chief executive explained that the area is not actually an accredited impounding area of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) because of the absence of pertinent documents that will cover the use of the same for apprehended vehicles that were issued temporary operator’s permit (TOP) under the Regional Traffic Adjudication Service (RTAS) of the Cordillera office of the Department of Transportation (DOTr-CAR), thus, no vehicles issued TOPs shall be impounded in the area.
“We allowed the use of a portion of the Baguio Athletic Bowl as a temporary impounding area for apprehended motor vehicles that were issued traffic citation tickets coming from the local government. It has come to our attention that there are motor vehicles that are being impounded in the area which were not issued TCTs but were instead issued TOPs that is why our police officers must make sure that no vehicles should be impounded in the area with the use of other documents which are not within the authority of the city,” Domogan stressed.
He asserted that the area must be already cleared of motor vehicles that were previously impounded with the use of TOPs because the said document is not within the power of the local government to issue for the violations of the apprehended motor vehicles as it was clear from the start that the temporary impounding area will only be for apprehended vehicles issued TCTs for their violations of local ordinances.
Domogan expressed concern over reports reaching him that motor vehicles of owners who already paid their fines for their stipulated violations are not being released by the personnel of the Army Reserve Command (ARESCOM) based in the area when these personnel have no authority to withheld the release of vehicles whose owners already settled their obligations with the local government.
According to him, for as long as the vehicle owners paid their violations with the local government, there is no compelling reason for anyone to block the release of the said vehicles from the temporary impounding area of the city and for those who were aggrieved by the failure of the police and military to release their vehicles to file their formal complaints with the concerned offices for it to be acted upon.
Domogan warned individuals who continue to interfere with the operation of the temporary impounding area without the expressed deputation from concerned government agencies and the law enforcement offices to refrain from doing so because they can be charge in court that could result to their perpetual disqualification from holding public office once found guilty of the offense charged to them.
He said that the deputized personnel of the Baguio city Police Office (BCPO) must make sure that the city’s temporary impounding area is cleared of motor vehicles previously impounded but whose owners already settled their violations or the impoundment was a result of the issuance of other documents aside from the city’s TCT to prevent further complications in the future. By Dexter A. See
