Last August 14, I came across a story that Sen. Raffy Tulfo (though I am no fan of the brothers) asked the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to stop legitimizing “quotas” or rackets for traffic enforcers to do their jobs, calling them instead as “incentives.”
“We should stop this practice of giving quota or commissions to our traffic enforcers for every ticket issued because it opens doors for corruption, extortion,” he said during the hearing of the Senate committee on public services on his proposed Senate Bill No. 1976 or the Fair Traffic Apprehension Act, reported the Inquirer.
His proposed bill seeks to impose administrative sanctions on traffic enforcers who commit errors in apprehending motorists and prevents them from abusing their authority.
It also seeks to provide compensation to drivers of motor vehicles who were wrongly apprehended for traffic violations and aims to promote transparency and accountability in the country’s traffic enforcement system.
Tulfo urged the authorities, including the Philippine National Police (PNP), to refrain from deputizing high-ranking police officials with traffic citation tickets. Quite naturally, they have other more pressing matters to attend to that why foot men are assigned in the field, Inquirer added.
During the hearing, 1-Rider party list Rep. Bonifacio Bosita, a former policeman, cited Las Piñas as one of the local government units (LGUs) that deputize senior police officials and grant commissions for issued traffic violation tickets.
“In Las Piñas, a [police] major is deputized and the one who issues a ticket is a patrolman,” said Bosita, adding that the LGU also grants 20-percent incentives to police officers.
This prompted Tulfo to confront Jose Gonzales, chief of the Las Piñas Traffic Management Office, during the hearing, the report said.
“For the issued citation ticket to be legal, the [police] major has to be there on-site, he should be the one who witnessed the violation and sign it as well as explain it to the traffic violator. Otherwise, that’s invalid. I would have easily won if I were to contest that,” Tulfo said as he urged Gonzales to recall all citation tickets.
LTO Executive Director Greg Pua Jr. also admitted in the hearing that their office had deputized even high-ranking officers as long as they went through the proper training and attended the required seminars.
Tulfo said there must be a “ceiling” for the qualifications of those the LTO would deputize.
“There should be qualifications, ‘Colonel you’re overqualified.’ Patrolmen should be the ones deputized by the LTO since they’re the ones on the field,” Tulfo said.
“Will you stop the practice of deputizing high-level officials of the PNP because [the system] is being used to extort money from the motorists,” he added.Pua said that they would look into Tulfo’s suggestion.
Police Col. Joshua Alejandro from the PNP’s directorate for operations said: “We will advise local police officers to refrain from getting tickets, especially senior officers, from the LGUs.”
Alejandro said he agreed with Bosita that policemen were “zealous” in apprehending violators because LGUs provide incentives from fines and penalties.
Bosita also said he was able to speak with an LTO district officer who was apparently reprimanded due to “low revenue” from traffic apprehensions.
The LTO, Pua said, has no “quota systems” and that the fines and penalties from traffic violations directly go to the government. But he said the agency would look into Bosita’s claim.
My take
The quota system has to stop. It is the job of law enforcers to enforce the laws and they must not be incentivized to do their work.
This deputation of high ranking officials to do field work comes in two forms: 1) it is voluntary for those officials desiring to earn more incentives from issuing TCTs (even if wrongly) to up their incomes instead of just sitting in their offices and 2) it is required because some who are higher than them would rather have them out of sight so they don’t interfere with issuances of office orders and other sensitive aspects of operation.
But as to the quota racket this has been existing since time immemorial and it would not take a law to stop this practice altogether.
Pray tell me who will police the police (pun intended) or the traffic enforcer from claiming it is his job to enforce traffic laws (again, pun or play of words intended).
The brothers having been in the media for a long time know this reality that is why they are exposing it so that the people would be aware.
But then again, for a mediaman- turned- politician to voice it out, I think this is grandstanding or a show off of one’s knowledge of something that common people know only too well.
#WeTakeAStand #OpinYon #OpinYonColumn #ColumnbyRosedelaCruz #BareTruth #MMDA #LTO #PNP