Beware – drivers who pile up Traffic Citation Tickets (TCT) don’t realize that the offenses can end up in court with a warrant of arrest issued against them.
This is what happened to 32 drivers who racked up unpaid fines of P1,900 to P160,500 as “habitual offenders” in Cebu City.
Bench warrants for the 32 were issued by Judge Monilia Tecson of the Municipal Trial Court in Cities (MTCC) last July and August after the Cebu City Traffic Operations Office (Citom) consolidated records of violators pending in their legal office and filed them in court.
Citom yesterday caught its first violator, Darwin Lareta of Naga City who drives a 44a route jeepney. He was apprehended about 4 p.m. and placed in the Citom’s detention cell.
“Based on our records, Lareta committed 222 violations since nine years ago amounting to P89,000 in fines,” said Joy Tumulak, Citom operations head.
The driver will be turned over to the court to answer charges of violation of Cebu City Ordinance 801 or the Traffic Code of Cebu City.
Citom has filed charges against 32 motorists involving P1,629,400 in fines.
“I appeal to motorists that in case you are issued a citation ticket, don’t ignore it because Citom is serious about filing a case,” Tumulak said.
Citom has a team to go after repeat violators, especially those with existing records of unpaid fines.
Most of them were Public Utility Vehicle (PUV) drivers plying routes in Cebu City, Tumulak said.
One driver had over 350 violations since 1999 with fines amounting to P139,800 for a variety of offenses such as disregarding traffic signs and not following “no stopping” signs. Tumulak advised drivers to immediately settle the penalties in the Citom office after receiving a citation ticket.
A violator can pay the compromise penalty of P500 to avoid having the case elevated in court.
NO SHOW
Citom office head Rafael Yap, a lawyer, said 32 drivers were issued arrest warrants because they failed to show up for preliminary investigation of their cases.
It’s up to the judge to decide if they have to remain in jail pending the hearing of their cases.
Yap said the 32 were “habitual” traffic violators who were charged in court for violations of city traffic ordinances.
He said that as a policy, Citom through the city legal office has 180 days to file a complaint in court against traffic violators.
“It’s possible that the bench warrants were already there but were just not served immediately. Maong na dungan na lang (That’s why they were acted on as one batch),” he said.
Yap assured that public transport won’t be affected by the move because the jeepney units were not impounded. Other drivers are operating the vehicles.
“The filing of charges is a means to discipline these drivers. We would rather have a few disciplined drivers than a lot of undisciplined drivers,” said Yap. / With a report by Doris C. Bongcac