A SOCIAL network site has been circulating a video showing a large crowd at the Land Transportation Office (LTO) Adjudication Office on N. Bacalso St. in Cebu City.
The waiting area was brimming with people trying to reclaim their driver’s licenses after these were confiscated when they were apprehended for committing traffic violations last Sunday and Monday, May 26 and 27, 2019, during simultaneous operations conducted by the Cebu City Police Office and the City Transportation Office.
It looked like there were too many people crammed in one space.
One concerned citizen, who was there because his vehicle was hit by a speeding motorist, said it was his “absolute WORST government office experience.”
Among his complaints were people barely able to hear their names being called through “a barely functional microphone” and the one stand-alone speaker that couldn’t be heard outside the main room. He also pointed out that the waiting area lacked seats.
His lament: “I understand that people need to be disciplined for violating traffic rules, but what about the rest?”
Instead of lashing out at the agency, the concerned citizen should have turned on the people who were there because they were apprehended during the two-day operation. After all, they wouldn’t be in that room had they not violated traffic rules.
To some, the violations seemed trivial.
Majority of violators were motorcycle drivers who were flagged down because they were wearing slippers.
But Section XI, Provision (e) of LTO Administrative Order AHS02008-015, or Rules and Regulations for the Use and Operation of Motorcycles on Highways, has been clear all along that riders are prohibited from wearing slippers, sandals and most especially from being barefoot while operating a motorcycle or scooter on a road or highway.
This requirement, like the wearing of helmets and seatbelts, is in place for the riders’ protection.
As LTO 7 Director Victor Caindec pointed out, the driver’s license “is NOT a RIGHT but a PRIVILEGE.”
The State will take away that privilege if motorists don’t follow the rules of the road.