New driver’s license requirement hit

A GROUP of tricycle drivers on Monday asked the Pasig Regional Trial Court to stop the Land Transportation Office (LTO) from requiring new and old applicants for a professional driver or conductor’s licenses to get a clearance from the police and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

Ariel Lim, president of the National Confederation of Tricycle Operators and Drivers Associations of the Philippines (Nactodap), said that the provision under LTO Administrative Order No. AVT-2015-029 was “unconstitutional and oppressive.”

Lim—who represents the organization’s more than two million members nationwide—noted that the LTO order issued in September and implemented starting Nov. 9 not only added to the burden of drivers of public utility vehicles but also deprived those who had violated the law of a second chance to make an honest living.

“What happens to a driver if it is proven that he was involved in a [crime] but has paid [his dues]? Will [the LTO] not issue him a license? Then they are depriving that person [of] the right to earn and have a second lease on life,” he told reporters Monday.

Lim also pointed out that the order would cause a lot of inconvenience to drivers living in far-flung areas such as those in Tawi-Tawi who would have to go all the way to Zamboanga just to get an NBI clearance.

Another example, he said, were those coming from Sanchez Mira town in Cagayan province who would have to travel more than 200 kilometers to Tuguegarao and hope that they would make the cutoff of 200 applicants the NBI has set per day.

“We know that getting an NBI clearance doesn’t take just a day, especially for those with ‘hits’ (a namesake with a criminal record). The loss of income for that day is a huge burden especially for the poor,” he told the Inquirer.

Nactodap’s petition for a temporary restraining order named as respondents Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya and LTO Assistant Secretary Alfonso Tan Jr.

The LTO, meanwhile, defended the new requirement for those applying for the first time or seeking to renew their licenses either as a professional driver or a conductor. Non-professional drivers are not covered by the new regulation.

The clearance from the NBI and Philippine National Police proves that “the applicant has not been convicted of any offense involving moral turpitude or reckless imprudence resulting from reckless driving,” according to LTO Administrative Order No. AVT-2015-029.

LTO spokesperson Jason Salvador explained Monday that the new requirement was due to reports about drivers of public utility vehicles, in particular, getting involved in accidents, and this was a way for the LTO to ensure “quality drivers.”

“We want to professionalize [driving]. You are engaging in it as a means of livelihood. And when you’re applying for a job, you get asked for clearances,” he pointed out.

Salvador said the LTO “did not lack in consultation” regarding the administrative order. He said public consultations were held before the order was finalized.

He acknowledged that “outcries” against the order had already begun, particularly in areas where police or NBI clearances were hard to get.

Salvador said the LTO has not yet received a copy of the petition filed by Nactodap.