ONLY the highest ranked government officials — specifically the President, the Vice President, the Senate President, the House Speaker, and the Chief Justice — should be allowed to use protocol license plates, a congressman said on Monday.
“(I) could not understand why many officials, including undersecretaries, judges, and prosecutors, are using low-numbered plates,” Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus B. Rodriguez said in a statement.
Recently, traffic enforcers have apprehended government vehicles, including some with protocol license plates “7” for senators and “8” for congressmen, for using the exclusive bus lane on EDSA only to avoid heavy traffic.
Last month, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. signed an executive order reducing the number of officials eligible for protocol license plates to 14 from the previous list of 16.
He also urged all government officials not to use police escorts and emergency sirens just to avoid traffic, echoing an earlier order by Mr. Marcos outlawing the use of sirens. “Let us have a level playing field in suffering the terrible traffic situation,” he said. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio
