The Regional Director LTO-6

Hole of Justice

By Peter G. Jimenea
The Regional Director, LTO-6

The Land Transportation Office in Region 6 (LTO-6) has given us a good reason to bring into the open the deliberate neglect if not irresoluteness of the regional director in the enforcement of law relative to the “Clean Air Act.”

Every morning, lot of vehicles on the streets are fuming dark smoke, creating a suspicion of bribe committed by vehicle owners with the operators of emission centre for their unfit units to qualify for registration with the LTO.

The black smoke from the exhaust pipes of vehicles cannot be ignored by law abiding car owners and commuters who can only shake their heads in disdain. For all we know, the black smoke emitted by the vehicles is health hazard and destroys the environment.

I don’t know what happened to the LTO taskforce armed with smoke belching machine stopping at random motor vehicles suspected of emitting smoke that has exceeded the tolerable limit allowed by law. This taskforce seems to have suddenly got lost. What a waste of taxpayers’ money!

The gross tolerance of the LTO regional director to this road mess is unfair to car owners who have religiously complied with the required emission test prior the registration of their vehicles. In fact, we have yet to see the good result of what we pay for this emission test.

As head of office, the director should know his responsibility and accountability attendant thereto. Jurisprudence dictates, culpa lata dolo a equiparatur – gross negligence is equivalent to malice or intentional wrong. (261 SCRA 128).

Some LTO directors are suspect to have a clandestine trade-off with operators of the emission centre-of-choice. Thus, the tolerance to violators is in exchange for… you know what. I hope the director is not a member of this syndicate we have to deal with!

 
Here’s another for the heart. There are lot of motor vehicles with plate numbers we could hardly read. The reported hit and run victims of unresolved vehicular accidents are counting but we heard no action from the LTO-6 regional director about this numbered plate mess.

Why put up LTO checkpoints intended only for motorcycle riders? The police are already there for criminals riding in tandem on motorcycle. The LTO checkpoint can go into checking of vehicles’ plate number to curb the unresolved number of hit and run cases.

The LTO regional director is not an Ilonggo. But there is a saying that if you are in Rome, be a Roman. So, he should have a room in his heart for the Ilonggos. This request for his official authority to enforce the Clean Air Act and prohibit the use of improper plate by motor vehicles can put everything in place.

So many victims of vehicular accidents have died without seeing justice as the culprit-drivers of vehicles with unreadable plate numbers escaped. Witnesses claimed they failed to read clearly the numbers of the vehicles’ plate and LTO officials are likewise to be blamed in this crime for neglect!

This is a request for the LTO regional director’s attention on matters of public concern, especially the environment. What’s more for the protection of human lives? If he ignores us, that’s his prerogative but he should know that a guilty conscience is the hell of a living soul!