AT LEAST 600 traffic violators in Bacolod City were arrested by operatives of Bacolod Inter-Agency Task Force (BIATAF) from January 1 to February 4, an official of the Land Transpiration Office (LTO)- Western Visayas said on Monday, February 4.
Acting LTO-Western Visayas operations chief and legal officer Allan Sacramento said the task force was formed to arrest the traffic violators and to address the traffic congestion here.
The BIATAF was composed of LTO, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Bacolod Traffic Authority Office (BTAO), City Legal Office (CLO)-Enforcement Team, Highway Patrol Group (HPG), and the City Administrator’s Office.
Sacramento said they joined the DPWH and CLO because there were some illegal structures occupying the sidewalk or highways.
“We have wide roads, but there’s still traffic because of the illegal structures and erring drivers who lack discipline,” he said.
Sacramento said the task force was suggested by the HPG and that they conceptualized it with the other agencies in the local government.
Sacramento said they also deputized the Philippine National Police as well as the BTAO traffic enforcers to help them implement the traffic laws.
Most of the violators were arrested for obstruction in the highway, illegal parking, unregistered and unlicensed motorists, not wearing a seat belt, among others.
The driver’s license of the violators was confiscated and that they were given citation tickets. They should pay their penalties to the LTO office.
Sacramento said most of the violators were private vehicle owners and some of them were tricycle drivers.
“For now, we are doing this in Bacolod City, as a pilot city, and after this, hopefully, we can replicate this to other cities and municipalities in Western Visayas,” he said.
The task force is operating every day from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in various areas.
Sacramento said they will also ask Councilor Dindo Ramos, chairperson of the City Council committee on transportation, to institutionalize the BIATAF through an ordinance in Bacolod.
“We formed this task force so that the local government unit can sustain the implementation of the traffic rules through BTAO and Traffic Management Unit,” he said.