Congressman seeks qualifying tests for all traffic cops

Palawan Rep. Abraham Mitra is proposing a qualifying examination for tens of thousands of traffic enforcers not only in Metro Manila but in the provinces as well, including those employed by local government units.

Mitra said yesterday he would introduce a provision in the proposed P1-trillion 2006 national budget requiring concerned agencies to set into motion an accreditation system for traffic enforcers and to design a qualification test for them.

He said these agencies are the Civil Service Commission, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Transportation and Communications, Metro Manila Development Authority, Land Transportation Office, and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board.

He said if such a provision were not sufficient, he would file a bill requiring a qualifying examination for traffic enforcers.

"Since these personnel collect more than half a billion pesos from us motorists for traffic violations, real and imagined, we might as well professionalize their ranks to prevent abuses," he stressed.

In random interviews with traffic enforcers in Metro Manila, Mitra revealed that he discovered that many of them have not driven a vehicle in their lifetime.

Others are not aware that there is such a law as the Traffic Code of the Philippines or are ignorant of local traffic ordinances, he said.

"People must pass a test to acquire a license before they can drive a car. But why are people running after drivers who violate traffic laws not even required to pass a written exam?" he asked.

"And these are people whose judgments on your driving are virtually final and executory, and without appeal. If you commit a driving mistake in their eyes, it is their word against yours. Yet, for all the powers we have given them, they are not required to pass a test that would measure their fitness to be a recipient of such broad powers," he said.

He said workers with lesser powers are required to go through a stringent accreditation and qualifying system.

"Only a licensed electrician can legally tinker with the wiring of your house. And in laying our sewers, only a master plumber is allowed to do that. Even Japan-bound dancers have to pass several accreditation tests," he said.

He noted that fines and penalties for traffic violations are a big source of income for agencies like the LTO, MMDA and local government units, which have their own traffic enforcers. — Jess Diaz