Makati to 1,500 motorists: You owe us

The Makati City government on Wednesday said it would start issuing legal summons this week to about 1,500 vehicle owners who were apprehended for smoke belching in the city but had yet to claim their confiscated license plates.

In a statement, Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay said he had ordered the city government’s legal department to compel negligent motorists to pay the fines imposed under Republic Act No. 8749 or the Clean Air Act.

Binay said a report from Makati Pollution Control Office (MPCO) chief Ricardo Suarez noted that some offenders had resorted to executing affidavits of loss for their confiscated license plates to avoid paying the fines.

They then submit the document when renewing their vehicle registration with the Land Transportation Office (LTO), the mayor said.

“We should not allow this fraudulent practice to continue. I have ordered the MPCO to coordinate with LTO to establish an efficient monitoring system that would block any attempt to skirt the law and obtain new license plates to replace those that are actually in the custody of MPCO,” Binay said.

According to the MPCO, some of the unsettled fines date as far back as January 2012.

In the first four months of 2013, the office apprehended 2,009 vehicles for smoke belching and remitted P635,500 in fines to the city coffers, 18-percent higher than the amount remitted during the same period last year.

Under the Clean Air Act, operators or drivers of vehicles cited for smoke belching are given 72 hours or three days to claim the confiscated plates and pay fines: P1,000 for the first offense, P2,000 for the second, and P3,000 for the third.

Their vehicles are also required to pass smoke emission tests.

Suarez said his office would write the LTO through Assistant Secretary Virginia Torres to propose measures against the misuse of affidavits of loss in vehicle registration.