Last Thursday, we published a story about the LTO's (then planned) massive joint operations for Friday, November 22 aimed at apprehending traffic violators of all sorts. Dubbed as the “one time, big time” event, the operations drew both praise and flak among netizens and motorists alike. Some praised the operations as a long-overdue action by the authorities and hoped that this will be a more frequent occurrence. Meanwhile, the detractors believe operations should've not been announced in the first place so that violators would be unprepared and caught red-handed.
According to LTO Assistant Secretary, Edgar C. Galvante, the activity is part of LTO’s continuing enforcement program which aims to prevent road crash incidents. It is also in compliance with President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s instruction for the LTO and other concerned government agencies to conduct joint operations against violators of road transport and traffic laws, rules and regulations.
“The LTO has been conducting Operations against road traffic violators, in coordination with various concerned agencies. This continuing activity aims to prevent road crashes nationwide,” LTO Assistant Secretary said.
The LTO - Law Enforcement Service’s (LES’) partial report as of 2:00 p.m. Friday shows that 969 were apprehended for violations of different land transport and traffic laws, broken down as follows: RA 4136 (Philippine Traffic Code) - 546; No Seatbelt - 195; No Helmet - 118; Distracted Driving - 16; RA 10666 (Child Safety on MC) - 18; Overloading – 76 violators.
Fifty-nine (59) motor vehicle drivers were also flagged down and reminded to follow land transport and traffic laws, rules and regulations.
Galvante also instructed all LTO Regional Offices to conduct continuous operations, in cooperation with their respective counterparts in different agencies such as the Philippine National Police- Highway Patrol Group (PNP-HPG), the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), the operators of toll roads, i.e. NLEX-SLEX, and local government units (LGUs).
