LTO to resume drug tests for drivers’ licenses in CV
People applying for driver’s licenses in Central Visayas will again be made to undergo drug tests after a court in Toledo City issued a preliminary injunction against the implementation of a memorandum scrapping the drug test requirement.
Judge Hermes Montero, presiding judge of Branch 59 of the Toledo City Regional Trial Court issued the order mandating the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) and the Land Transportation Office (LTO) to hold in abeyance the implementation of its June 27, 2013 memorandum “pending final disposition of the case.”
“The defendants are hereby enjoined from implementing the memorandum dated June 27, 2013 issued by Asst. Secretary Virginia Torres of the DOTC/LTO pending the final disposition of the case,” Montero said in his order.
The plaintiff, Dulcisimo Tuldanes, posted an injunction bond of P300,000 formalizing the implementation of the preliminary injunction.
In her memorandum, the outgoing LTO chief repealed the conduct of mandatory drug testing as provided under Republic Act 10586 or an Act Penalizing Driving Under the Influence (DUI).
Regional LTO Director Arnel Tancinco told Cebu Daily News that drug tests was again made a requirement beginning at noon yesterday.
Tuldanes was able to convince the court that public safety is at risk if there’s no assurance that drivers applying for or renewing their licenses are negative of drug use.
The judge said the re-implementation of the drug testing is only effective in Central Visayas.
He said they received the order last Oct. 18 and sent it to their head office in Manila.
The court order was later relayed to the DOTC for review by the Solicitor General’s Office. Reporter Ador Vincent Mayol and Correspondent Christine Emily L. Pantaleon
