QC gov’t, LTO go after drivers with traffic violation

It’s the end of the road for motorists who declare as lost their confiscated drivers licenses and apply for new ones with the Land Transportation Office (LTO) to avoid paying traffic fines imposed by the Quezon City government.

On Monday, local officials and the LTO agreed to share their motorist database with each other. Under a memorandum of agreement (MOA), the city government will have direct access to the LTO database of licensed drivers while the agency will get to see the Quezon City traffic division’s database of drivers with traffic violations.

“[Under] the present setup, [local government-issued] tickets are not compiled by the LTO. Therefore, even if you have numerous Ordinance Violation Receipts (OVRs), the LTO does not know about it because there is no interconnectivity,” Elmo San Diego, head of the city’s Department of Public Order and Safety, said in a statement.

“You can easily get replacement licenses from the LTO by just submitting affidavits of loss, therefore making the OVRs useless,” he added.

Speaking at the MOA signing, San Diego pointed out that the city government was holding on to 80,000 unclaimed drivers licenses, some dating back to 2004.

But under the new system, “you can no longer circumvent the law. Those flagged by Quezon City as having unsettled traffic violations will not be able to renew their licenses until they have settled their corresponding fines,” Mayor Hebert Bautista said.

This is LTO’s first partnership with a local government for “information sharing,” said LTO chief Alfonso Tan at the MOA signing. He expressed hope that other cities in Metro Manila would soon follow suit.