If you are finding yourself in a tough situation on the road where you are on the verge of losing your driver’s license due to an offense to an officer, but the person doing the confiscation is not from the Land Transportation Office (LTO), then don’t give away your license. That is according to a recent memorandum released by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), which was released a week ago.
Per DILG-DOTC Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) No. 01, s., 2008, or the Guidelines in the Review of Local Ordinances, Orders, Rules and Regulations Concerning Public Transportation, it states that only those within LTO can seize a person’s driver’s license.
With that as a statement, it makes common sense therefore to ask—What can the LGU do instead? Based on the same memo, they can only issue traffic citation tickets, nothing more.
It is worth mentioning that even some of the LGUs may not be aware of this binding rule. So, if you find yourself placed in a situation where you are to lose a driver’s license but are conspicuously not faced with an LTO personnel, show a snapshot of the memo and get your ticket instead.