39 City vehicles not LTO-registered

Monday, July 18, 2011

WHILE City Hall is strict in implementing traffic rules, at least 39 of its vehicles have been running without Land Transportation Office (LTO) registration papers for two years now.

This is in violation of Republic Act (RA) 4136, or the Land Transportation and Traffic Code, which requires all vehicles to be registered yearly.

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The same code also prescribes that no vehicle “shall be used or operated on or upon any public highway of the Philippines unless the same is properly registered for the current year.”

General Service Office (GSO) assistant department head Ronald Melacora told Sun.Star Cebu the papers for the vehicles, which were delivered to the City in 2009 yet by the Pasajero Motors Corp. (Pamocor), are still being processed.

Melacora said it is Pamocor who is processing the registration of the vehicles.

“The registration of the vehicles is being worked out by Pamocor. It was agreed that they will process the registration considering that some of these were acquired by them from Mindanao,” he said.

Melacora said it will be Pamocor who will shoulder the penalties of the unregistered vehicles to LTO.

Melacora said the Commission on Audit (COA) disallows the City to pay penalties to LTO because it means that the government employees tasked to register the vehicle on time are negligent of their duties.

The fine for late registration is 50 percent of a vehicle’s basic registration fee, or about P2,000 per vehicle.

The City currently has at least 1,200 running vehicles.

Melacor said allowing unregistered vehicles to run in the city’s streets will put its drivers, who are all City Hall employees, at risk.

He said the driver’s license will also be confiscated.

Melacora assured, though, that all vehicles are insured with the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).

Among the unregistered vehicles of the City are garbage trucks, fire trucks, mini buses and patrol cars. These vehicles were distributed to the different city barangays in 2009.

The beneficiaries were the barangays of Sirao, Tejero, Binaliw, Malubog, Sambag II, Tagba-o, Agsungot, Babag, Guba, San Jose, Lorega, Sto. Niño, Apas, Kasambagan, Calamba, Paril, Adlaon, Sudlon II, Luz, Sta. Cruz, San Antonio, Mabini, and Pung-ol Sibugay.

Also beneficiaries are Barangay Ermita, Pardo, San Roque, Parian, Pardo, Kamagayan, Kalubihan, Tinago, Sirao, Zapatera and Day-as.