Rider party-list group moves to put brakes on LTO’s demerit system for motorists
Two lawmakers on Monday sought a congressional inquiry on the “propriety and reasonableness” of the Land Transportation Office’s (LTO) demerit system for motorists, which could result in the revocation of a driver’s license.
1-Rider party-list Reps. Bonifacio Bosita and Ramon Rodrigo Gutierrez filed House Resolution no 2135 which would direct the House committee on transportation to look into the LTO’s setup of a driver’s license point system and registry.
The point system and registry were established under Republic Act 10930, which introduced amendments to the Land Transportation and Traffic Code, including the extension of the validity of driver’s licenses and imposing penalties for violations.
“With the establishment of a point system, the violations committed by apprehended drivers are recorded and assigned corresponding demerit points: five for grave violations; three for less grave violations; and one for other violations not categorized as grave or less grave,” they said.
The lawmakers maintained that immediately revoking a driver’s license of a person, who has accumulated 40 demerit points for two years, without notice and hearing is an “apparent violation of the Constitutional right to due process.”
“Unfair and without basis, public utility vehicle drivers accumulate demerit points faster than any driver due to the implementation of double demerit points that may consequently lead to the outright revocation of their driver’s licenses and loss of their jobs and livelihoods,” they pointed out.
The lawmakers claimed that the traffic enforcers as well as PUV and truck drivers were vulnerable to the adverse effects of the double demerit points system due to their lack of sufficient knowledge of the LTO’s program.
“The imposition of fines and penalties under the demerit system, including the doubling of demerit points for PUV drivers, adds financial and administrative burdens that disproportionately affect drivers, their families and industries reliant on public transportation and trucking and creates an uneven penalty structure that lacks statutory basis,” they said.
“The current implementation of the point system, including the double demerit points and outright revocation, by the LTO exceeds the scope of its delegated powers and imposes excessive penalties and administrative burdens inconsistent with the true intent of RA 10930, necessitating legislative review and corrective action,” they stressed.
