SC upholds 2008, 2014 orders on traffic violation fines, illegal public transport
THE SUPREME Court (SC) has upheld the legality of government orders issued in 2008 and 2014 that imposed fines and penalties for traffic violations and public transport vehicles operating illegally, paving the way for their reimplementation.
In a 69-page ruling made public on March 14, the High Court said the penalty schemes implemented by the former Department of Transportation and Communication (DoTC) and the Land Transportation Office (LTO) did not infringe on a violator’s right to due process.
“As the proliferation of colorum vehicles and their continued conduct absent requisite authority would immeasurably endanger the lives of the public, it is necessary for the state, pursuant to its police power devolving unto the DoTC and its agencies, to place reasonable restrictions in the form of higher fees and stricter penalties,” Associate Justice Jhosep Y. Lopez said in the ruling.
Colorum is the colloquial term for vehicles that operate as public transport without the necessary license.
The court said it failed to see how the orders violated the Constitution and how it was “an intrusion to private rights.”
A Baguio City regional trial court (RTC) in 2012 struck down the LTO 2008 order and issued an injunction saying that it was only meant to generate funds for government and was not punitive or disciplinary in nature.
In 2008, the DoTC, which has since been reorganized as the Department of Transportation, through the LTO, issued a penalty scheme for violations committed by motor vehicles plying roads in Metro Manila.
The order imposed fines of up to P6,000 and a surcharge of P1,500 per day for violators that fail to settle the initial fine within 72 hours.
Transport groups argued that the order was illegal since it allowed the LTO to arrest, prosecute and sentence a traffic violator after three jeepney drivers were fined for going “out of line” while traveling along their route in Baguio City.
An LTO official had testified that the order was meant to “improve revenue collection.”
In 2014, the LTO order was revised by Joint Administrative Order No. 2014-01, which imposed a P1-million fine on buses operating illegally on the first offense.
Fines for other first-time offenders included unlicensed trucks at P200,000; jeepneys, P50,000; vans, P200,000; sedans, P120,000; and motorcycles, P6,000.
The Office of the Solicitor General appealed the decision before the Court of Appeals, saying the Baguio RTC made a mistake in saying the order was illegal. The appellate court denied the petition, citing that the government sought the wrong legal remedy.
“If at all, the assailed orders only serve to further the initiatives of the State concerning anything that proves to be a menace to public safety and welfare,” the High Court said. — John Victor D. Ordoñez
