Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chairman Francis Tolentino. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chair Francis Tolentino on Wednesday branded as “un-Christian” the implementation of the Land Transportation Office’s (LTO) “No Registration, No Travel” policy during the Holy Week.
“I am against it,” MMDA Chair Francis Tolentino told INQUIRER.net in a phone interview.
“(It is) unconstitutional and un-Christian,” he said, noting that it was Holy Wednesday and many were traveling to the provinces to spend the height of the Holy Week.
The LTO will implement the policy, where vehicles with no license plates or updated registration would be apprehended, even during the holidays from Maundy Thursday to Easter Sunday.
Worse, Tolentino noted, the country was bracing for the arrival of a very strong typhoon. Implementing the policy at his time would greatly inconvenience motorists.
Tolentino said the MMDA would not have a part in the implementation of the policy.
“We will allow them to travel freely to their provinces,” he said.
According to Tolentino, motorists with news vehicles “never intended to violate the law” just that no plates were given to them.
He said the 17 local government units (LGUs) in Metro Manila also would not implement the policy.
LTO spokesperson Jason Salvador was unaffected by the MMDA’s refusal to implement the policy.
In a radio interview, Salvador said only LTO enforcers and deputized agents may enforce it.
He clarified that the LTO would implement a “No Registration, No Travel” policy and not a “No Plate, No Travel Policy.” Vehicles without license plates but are registered would not be apprehended as long as their drivers show proof of registration.
Salvador’s statement contradicted earlier media reports citing LTO chief Alfonso Tan that even registered vehicles would be apprehended if these did not have the authorized plates attached.
INQUIRER.net is trying to reach Tan to clarify the matter.
LTO has said that the “No Registration, No Travel” policy requires that all four-wheeled motor vehicles must be registered, or at least be within the 7-day registration period, starting Wednesday, April 1.
Under Joint Administrative Order 2014-01, the owner of an unregistered motor vehicle will be fined P10,000 while the driver will be fined P1,000.