A FORMER cabinet official applauded the Land Transportation Office for its swift action over a complaint lodged against a Skyway traffic enforcer who was questioned on his authority in confiscating licenses.
Atty. Nicasio Conti, former Maritime Industry Authority administrator and now the CEO of Capstone-Intel filed a complaint against Pelvie John Alto.
In his complaint filed on June 26, 2024, Atty. Conti said the incident occurred along the NLEX-SLEX connector road, where Alto “unauthorizedly” confiscated the license of Ramon Duremdes, Conti’s driver.
“When I asked Enforcer Alto to provide his deputization order from LTO, he failed to produce any such document, raising serious concerns about the legality of his actions. This incident has caused significant inconvenience and distress and made us wait for a longer time for him to produce the deputization. He
then returned showing a list of deputized Skyway Police but his name is not included in there,” Atty. Conti claimed.
“Failure to address this issue might lead to a growing suspicion among motorists that such actions are driven by ulterior motives rather than an honest intent to enforce traffic rules. I trust that the LTO will take immediate and appropriate action to resolve this matter and ensure that proper protocols are followed by all traffic enforcers,” he added.
Meanwhile, upon receiving the complaint the LTO’s LES Deputation Section conducted a verification and issued a show cause order to Alto regarding his failure to produce his deputation ID and order.
Atty. Conti reminded all motorists that, as per Art. III, Section 4(d)4 of RA 4136 (Traffic Code) and Executive Order 125-A in relation to Section 29, only authorized LTO officers and their duly deputized counterparts are empowered to confiscate driver’s licenses. Unauthorized confiscation is illegal and should be promptly reported to the authorities.
He also emphasized that his motive in lodging the complaint was to reinforce the proper protocols for driver’s license confiscation and to remind motorists that their licenses cannot be confiscated except by authorized LTO personnel or their duly deputized officers.
“You can politely inquire whether the apprehending officer is deputized by the LTO, and failure to provide proof constitutes a breach of protocol; consequently, your driver’s license cannot be confiscated,” Atty. Conti said.
Assistant Secretary Vigor Mendoza affirmed the LTO’s commitment to treating all complaints seriously and taking prompt action to ensure that traffic enforcement activities are conducted in a lawful and equitable manner.
“We remain steadfast in protecting motorists’ rights and upholding the integrity of our processes,” he added.
