Once more on the offensive ANCAR permits!

Last Friday, for the first time in his career, Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama chaired the meeting of the Regional Development Council (RDC-7) as he was recently appointed chairman after the unexpected death of Negros Oriental Governor Augustin “Toting” Perdices last December. While it was the first time in my 20-years in the RDC to see Mike Rama, at least he did a creditable job in pursuing the call by the RDC-7 to permanently put an end to the plan to reinstate the so-called Anti-Carnapping (ANCAR) permit.

Perhaps the problem lies upon the fact that we are indeed a forgetful people… or is it due to the other reality that the Aquino Administration has that penchant to eradicate from the face of the earth anything that has to do with the government of former Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA). Whatever it is, I’m glad that the RDC-7 has fully supported our call to stop this nonsense called ANCAR permits for good.

First a little history of the ANCAR permits. It was instituted by the Integrated National Police (INP) during the dark days of Martial Law and after the EDSA Revolt; it was one of those abhorrent Marcos policies that the government of Pres. Cory Aquino allowed to continue. I was a new columnist when I began my crusade against the ANCAR permits. It was then I realized that the people in Metro Manila didn’t even care about this because you could actually drive from Aparri to Sorsogon (that’s five regions) and no one would stop your vehicle to demand your ANCAR clearance.

What broke the proverbial camel’s back was during the time that the San Juanico or Marcos Bridge had to be closed and shutdown for repairs and people from Samar going to Leyte or vice-versa now had to cross by barge. But now they had to get an ANCAR permit to cross the San Juanico Strait. This brought a huge howl by motorists in Samar and Leyte asking the question, why they did not need any ANCAR clearance to cross the strait where there is a bridge, while if you crossed on a ferry, you needed one?

My personal beef against the ANCAR clearance was a simple legal dictum, which says, “One is presumed innocent until his guilt is proven.” But in the process for securing an ANCAR permit, your vehicle is presumed to be stolen and you need to prove it otherwise. In short, this is pure and simple laziness on the part of the PNP Traffic Command, where every vehicle is lumped as stolen, yes including a brand new car that you just got from the showroom. This is why the ANCAR permit is not only abhorrent; it has also stifled our economic growth.

It was way back in the mid-90s when the RDC-7 issued a resolution asking then President Fidel V. Ramos (FVR) to remove the offensive ANCAR Permit for the simple reason that it has not stopped the sale of carnapped vehicles coming to the Visayas and Mindanao. This is due to the fact that the criminal carnapping syndicates have insiders within the PNP Traffic Command and the Land Transportation Office (LTO), a reality that continues up to this present day. But FVR did not act on it.

When Vice-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo took over the reins of power after the removal of the corrupt Presidency of Pres. Joseph “Erap” Estrada, her first Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) Secretary Pantaleon Alvarez called me for a meeting to further explain the situation in the Visayas and Mindanao. Understanding the situation clearly, he then asked Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to sign a memorandum order to remove the ANCAR Clearance and this paved the way for her backbone program called “Strong Republic Nautical Highway (SRNH)”.

No doubt the SRNH was one of the most successful programs under the GMA Administration, which has spurred economic development in areas that could be tapped for a Roll-on, Roll-off (RoRo) Port. This has resulted in a massive increase in the income of the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA).

But a few months ago, carnapping in Metro Manila has resulted in the gruesome killings of those involved in the business of used or even stolen cars. Hence in a meeting to stem the tide of carnapping, someone brought up the idea of resurrecting the ANCAR permits. That would have happened a month ago in a meeting in Malacañang Palace but the executives from the PPA did not show up because they did not want the ANCAR permit resurrected. So that meeting was cancelled and rescheduled for another time.

This is why once again; the RDC-7 issued another resolution this time to Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino, III not to resurrect the ANCAR permit because it would stifle the economic growth here in the Visayas and Mindanao. Let us hope that Pres. PNoy would listen to our pleas, lest he plunges the Visayas and Mindanao into a grave economic disaster.

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