Lawyer: LTO violating drivers’ rights
ROXAS CITY – A lawyer is asking the head of Land Transportation Office here to justify their operation of “searching” drivers which he described as illegal and a violation of one’s constitutional rights.
Lawyer James Advincula, in his letter addressed to LTO chief Jose Degollado, said LTO operatives violate constitutional rights by searching for their driver’s license and registration of motorcycle during the operation.
“I believe the LTO personnel of Roxas City are committing widespread violation of the constitutional rights of the citizens (with this) unreasonable search,” Advincula said.
He said that before a person could be searched in person or property, he must at least be shown proof first that he or she has violated a law or ordinance, to justify the search.
Advincula, an assistant prosecutor in Roxas City, said he experienced several times LTO personnel stopping him to ask for his driver’s license and certificate of registration of his motorcycle.
He said he always asked what is his violation but the LTO personnel told him nothing.
Advincula said he was told it is the office policy of the LTO to search even without prior apparent violation.
It is their right to stop drivers to allow inspection of motorcycle, but he protested giving his driver’s license because as a lawyer, he believes it is illegal, he said.
He said the implementation of traffic rules and regulation by LTO personnel is biased against motorcycles as luxury vans and cars are not subjected to the same treatment.
For his part, Degollado strongly denied committing illegal search because the LTO personnel only ask the drivers to show their license and registration.
“We are just asking for the driver’s license and registration but we never search the drivers,” Degollado said in a radio interview.
No one should drive without license or drive vehicles without registration, he said, adding that LTO personnel ask for a license to prove that the driver is authorized to drive the motorcycle.
Degollado, who also denied bias towards motorcycles, said the LTO cannot apply for individual arrest warrants to apprehend drivers without license.
He said his office has apprehended 75 minors driving without license, bringing to 150 the drivers arrested for driving without license in Roxas City alone.
Some impounded single motorcycles have tampered numbers and they suspect these have been carnapped, he said.
