THE Davao City Police Office admitted that the implementation of banning the use of sirens, blinkers and emergency lights on all vehicles remains "hanging" because they still await the Land Transportation Office (LTO) response.
Senior Superintendent Rene Aspera, in an interview, said he and his operations officers were supposed to meet with LTO officials to discuss guidelines strategies but the meeting was postponed.
It was not known why the meeting didn't push through.
"Though we can implement on our own, the campaign is still the LTO's primary responsibility as stipulated in Presidential Decree (PD) No. 96," Aspera said.
PD 96 states the prohibition of using sirens, ball-horn and blinkers. It was made during the Marcos regime on the year 1973.
Under Presidential Decree 96 issued by Aquino, only select vehicles of the Philippine National Police (PNP), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Land Transportation Office (LTO), Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) and ambulance can use sirens, bells, horns or other gadgets while government officials allowed to use sirens or blinkers are only the President, Vice President, Senate President, House Speaker and chief of the Supreme Court.
Authorized persons are only allowed to use their sirens during emergency cases and responses.
During normal activities, Aspera said, the blinker is used to be a sign of police visibility.
Aspera added that as of now, the DCPO does not hold record of confiscated sirens and blinkers.
"It is with the LTO," he said.
The penalties for the illegal use of sirens is confiscation for the first offense while a penalty of P15,000 is imposed on the second offense.
Nothing new
Meanwhile, in a separate interview, LTO-Davao Region Chief of Operations Eleanor Senal Calderon said the campaign against sirens is "nothing new."
"We have been doing it for four years now and it has been part of our job," Calderon said adding that it has only been an interesting media coverage recently following the direct order from newly installed President Benigno "Nonoy" Aquino III.
When asked how many confiscations have been made since after Aquino issued the order in his inaugural speech, Calderon said, "no inventory. We cannot register the number of violators."
She explained that their computer program/system cannot tally the exact number of confiscated sirens but can gladly show the evidence.
She added that LTO in Davao Region has also been strictly implementing the campaign against commemorative plates.
There has been no problem in the confiscation of sirens in Davao, she said, some people would actually go to their office and surrender the sirens and blinkers. (With Mary Rose Llevado and Jezreel Golvin, ADDU Interns)