LTO chief defends action vs vlogger’s son; but it was a ‘nightmare’
The head of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) defended a traffic enforcer’s decision to issue a violation ticket for “reckless driving” against the son of vlogger James Deakin, who earlier took to social media to question the cited offense and complain about their experience at the LTO office when they went to settle the fine.
In a briefing on Wednesday about the Dec. 18 violation, Secretary Markus Lacanilao said Deakin’s son Daniel committed reckless driving not only for crossing a double solid line but also for driving an unregistered vehicle.
When pulled over, Daniel did not have the vehicle’s official receipt and certificate of registration (OR/CR) in his possession and showed only a sales invoice issued by the car importer to the dealer, and not from the dealer to the buyer, Lacanilao said.
“Totally, the vehicle has no papers. Because the papers they are carrying are from the importer to the dealer. What does that mean? That has not been sold to people and that should not be driven on the street,” Lacanilao said.
“According to our rules, driving an unregistered vehicle is considered reckless driving,” he added.
Daniel was flagged down for the violation on the northbound lane of Skyway near the Quezon Avenue exit in Quezon City.
At the briefing, Lacanilao showed video footage of Daniel’s pickup truck changing lanes to join the exiting queue of vehicles, and the enforcer directing traffic a few meters away.
According to the LTO chief, Daniel caused traffic to slow down behind him.
Deakin, a Filipino-British vlogger who focuses on transport-related topics, took to social media early this week to protest the traffic citation, saying reckless driving “can also be a criminal offense under Philippine law that goes on permanent record.”
“What my son did was a traffic violation. It happens. Imagine if what the officer wrote affects his future employment, insurance, and travel. That’s not ‘following the rules’—that’s creating them on the spot,” he wrote.
5 working days to settle
Lacanilao said Daniel had “five working days” from Dec. 19 to Jan. 2 to contest the violation but failed to submit any appeal within the period. He added that because of this, his license was suspended for a month.
Lacanilao said the young Deakin was summoned to a hearing at the main LTO office in Quezon City on Monday to explain why he should not be held liable for reckless driving. The traffic enforcer was also asked to give his side.
The dealer was also ordered to explain why the vehicle was released without proper documents, he added.
In a text message to the Inquirer on Wednesday, Deakin said they have yet to receive a show-cause order from the LTO.
‘Nightmare’
In his Facebook post, he also recounted the “nightmare” he and his son experienced at the LTO office.
Since the ticket indicated they have 15 days to claim Daniel’s license, they went to the LTO office on a Saturday, “the break between Christmas and New Year,” only to find out the office was closed. As advised, they came back on Jan. 5.
“After several hours of being shuffled from office to office, counter to counter, and eventually paying the P2,000 fine, they tell us they won’t release the license without the OR/CR of the vehicle,” he said.
Even after being told that all the vehicle information was written on the ticket, Deakin said, the LTO personnel they met insisted that they still produce a photocopy of the OR/CR.
The Deakins eventually secured it from the vehicle manufacturer and came back to the LTO office, only to be told: “Sorry, you’re now past the 15-day deadline. So your son’s license is now automatically suspended for one month.’’
“The government gives you 15 days. Then closes for more than half of them. Demands documents that have nothing to do with the violation. Won’t accept digital copies in 2026. Then penalizes you for being late,” Deakin wrote, summing up their ordeal.
Giving an update in a Facebook post on Wednesday, Deakin said he had met via Zoom with lawyers from both the Anti-Red Tape Authority (Arta) and LTO.
According to him, the Arta lawyer asked the LTO counterpart if the OR/CR is required when settling a traffic violation, to which the LTO lawyer answered no.
“The LTO let me down badly, and it cut deep, but at least now I can tell him (Daniel) there’s accountability even when government agencies don’t play by the rules. That means something,’’ he said.
