Loss of LTO agents cause drop in arrests

CEBU, Philippines - The absence of civilian deputized agents has affected the performance of the Land Transportation Office in going after erring drivers as shown in their number of apprehensions.

The records show that the total number of erring drivers apprehended by LTO for various violations last year has decreased after then LTO Chief Arturo Lomibao recalled the deputation of civilians.

Statistics show that from the 930,088 apprehensions nationwide in 2008, the number has dropped to 736,427 last year after the civilian agents ceased from helping the enforcement of the traffic laws. In Central Visayas the figure had dropped from 92,879 in 2008 to 71,768 last year.

The records also show that the civilian agents have helped increased the number of apprehensions in 2008 by bringing the number from 899,701 in 2007 to 930,088.

When Lomibao was appointed LTO chief, he ordered the recall of all appointments issued to civilian deputized agents because he wanted that only government personnel are issued deputation.

Task Force Alpha, the most active group of LTO deputized agents stopped operating in Metro Cebu since February 2009 following Lomibao’s order.

Despite the decrease of the number of apprehensions the LTO-7 managed to increase the revenue collection to P919.7 million last year, higher than the P827.9 million in 2008.

The records also show that despite the economic crisis the number of vehicles registered soared last year compared to the previous years. In 2007 there were only 436,156 assorted kinds of vehicles registered in Central Visayas but the number went up to 478,097 and 501,319 in 2008 and 2009, respectively.

There are 6.2 million vehicles registered with the LTO nationwide. – THE FREEMAN