THE Davao City Transport and Traffic Management Office (CTTMO) is supporting the move to criminalize driving without valid license.
CTTMO head Dionisio Abude said he supports the proposed ordinance of Councilor Conrado Baluran, who pushes to consider driving without license a criminal offense.
Baluran, who heads the committee on transportation and communication, passed a proposed ordinance in September this year, saying unlicensed drivers might pose a threat to the riding community.
Abude, meanwhile, said the CTTMO has already apprehended more than 10,000 drivers without license since September 2017. For January to November this year, he said more than 6,000 drivers were already apprehended for similar violation.
The traffic official said most of the apprehended drivers without license are those with “running” violation, or those who were flagged down for other violation, but later on found out to have no license as well.
“Kaning among madakpan nga wala’y lisensya, originally, ma-flag sila sa among enforcer tungod naa silay violation. Now, pag pangayuon na sa among enforcers ilang lisensya, dili sila makapakita. Another violation nasab siya (Those apprehended without licenses were those flagged down by our enforcers for other violations and when our enforcers ask for their license, they failed to present one. That’s another violation),” Abude told Sunstar Davao on November 3, Tuesday.
He said, unlike the Land Transportation Office (LTO) which has an initial fine of P3,000, Abude said CTTMO has only an initial penalty of P500.
However, he said the proposed ordinance will add weight on its penalty clause as first offense will have a P1,000 fine and 10 days of imprisonment; for the second offense, a P3,000 fine and 15 days of imprisonment; and for the third offense, a P5,000 fine and 30 days imprisonment will be imposed.
Abude said not criminalizing these violations coupled with a “very low” fine and penalty has been abused by drivers.
The traffic official added that unlicensed drivers should not be plying in the streets as they would pose risk not only to the pedestrians and motorists, but also to their selves.
“Kining mga motorista nga legitimate is kini sila tong mga niagi og seminar, training, ug examination. Since miagi sila ani, careful sila sa ilang pag-drive kay kabalo man sila sa mga traffic rules and violation (Legitimate drivers undergo seminar, training, and examination. They tend to be more careful in their driving since they know the traffic rules and violations),” Abude said. (RGL)