DOTC urged to end delay in car sticker delivery

MANILA-Sen. Ralph G. Recto today urged the Department of Transportation and Communications to speed up the “delivery and issuance” of car registration stickers, a problem which has dogged the agency for more than three years now.

Recto made the call on behalf car owners whom he lamented have to wait for months for the release of stickers which serve as proof that a motor vehicle has been registered.

He said the sticker issue is being viewed as a litmus test if government can address complex transportation problems.

“If we falter and fail on such a small thing as a car sticker, then how can we solve big and complex transport problems like mass rail transits, airport modernization and maritime safety?” Recto said.

At present, a four-wheel motor vehicle has to display three stickers:  one on the windshield, and one each on the front and back license plates.

Under local traffic laws, failure to sport any of these is subject to a fine.

“I am bewildered by the continued inability of our government to supply in adequate numbers a sticker as a big as a postage stamp,” Recto said, referring to the one inch by one inch stickers for car plates.

We are a country which produces tens of millions of stickers which are distributed for free during the election season and yet our government is taking months to deliver a sticker already paid for by the car owner,” Recto said.

Recto said a car owner has to go back “many times” to the Land Transportation Office where he had his vehicle registered to follow up if the stickers had arrived.

“I think we should reverse the process.  What the LTO should do is call the vehicle owner that his stickers had arrived. LTO should treat the transacting public as customers who deserve that service,” he said.

“Ano pa ang silbi ng salitang ‘Communications’ sa DOTC kung hindi nila pwedeng i-text o tawagan ang mga nagparehistro ng sasakyan na ready na ang mga stickers nila,” he said.

Recto said  “this kind of service will spare car owners who live far from the LTO office from the hassles of making repeated trips just to inquire if the stickers are now ready.”

The senator also urged the DOTC to formally advise the “Philippine National Police, the MMDA and the galaxy of deputized traffic enforcers, which now include barangay tanods” to impose a moratorium on apprehending motor vehicles which, though registered, do not sport stickers.

“Hindi naman nila kasalanan na wala pang sticker, so bakit sila bibigyan ng traffic violation ticket,” he said.

“Kung pwede nga lang, DOTC ang bigyan ng traffic citation. Their violation: Allowing cars to drive without stickers,” Recto said.

The LTO had promised that the sticker shortage problem will be gone by next month as the contracted printer, the government-owned APO Production Unit, has ramped up production.

“Sana magkatotoo na ‘yan. Kaso 2011 pa natin naririnig ang pangakong yan,“ Recto said. 

Ex-NPA rebel shot dead by armed men in NE

CABANATUAN CITY – A former member of the communist New People’s Army was shot dead by four unidentified gunmen in Bongabon, Nueva Ecija Thursday.

          Senior Superintendent Crizaldo Nieves, provincial police director, identified the murdered ex-rebel as Renato Saddoy, alias Ka Leroy, 49, of Barangay Macabaclay, Bongabon.

          Saddoy sustained 18 gunshot wounds in the body which led to his death.

           Senior Inspector Manuel Catacutan, Bongabon police chief, said Saddoy was a member of the NPA in the 80s and had since become a farmer. He is also a known active member of the Alab Katipunan (AK), a farmer’s group.

          SPO1 Adrian Sioson, investigator of the Bongabon police, said that prior to the killing, a witness told them the suspects – their faces covered with shirts, positioned themselves along the road leading to Saddoy’s farm and pretended to be farmhands. 

A few minutes later, Saddoy passed by aboard his handtractor on his way to his farm  when two of the suspects fired him repeatedly. The gunmen fled towards to Barangay Santor.

Sioson said the motive for Saddoy’s killing remains unknown. He said the victim’s widow has refused to provide information to police probers until after her husband’s interment. 

Empty shells of caliber 45 revolver were recovered at the murder  scene. (Manny Galvez)

JINGGOY QUESTIONS CUNANAN’S JET SETTING LIFESTYLE

MANILA-Senator Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada questioned Dennis Cunanan’s jet setting lifestyle as the lawmaker uncovered the frequent travels abroad made by Cunanan and his family over the last ten years.

 

In a privilege speech entitled “The Tale of Two Incredible Witnesses,” Sen. Estrada disclosed that Cunanan, his wife and children traveled overseas a total of eighty three (83) times from 2004 to 2013.

 

Citing records from the Bureau of Immigration, Cunanan left the country 12 times in 2013, 12 times in 2012, 14 times in 2011, 5 times in 2010, 10 times in 2009, 14 times in 2008, 8 times in 2007, 5 times in 2006, once in 2005, and twice in 2004.

 

“Hindi po ata sinusuportahan ni Dennis ang programang pang-turismo ng ating gobyerno. Dahil sa dalas niya sa labas ng Pilipinas, iisipin mo nga naman na para kay Dennis mukhang “It is more fun outside the Philippines!” Jinggoy observed. 

 

“Ginagawa pong Quiapo ni Cunanan, ng kanyang asawa pati ng kanilang mga anak ang Amerika, Europa, mga bansa sa Asya tulad ng Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Hongkong, Macau, Taiwan, Korea at iba pang lugar,” Jinggoy further said.

 

The same records also contradict his earlier statement before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee that the travels were made on weekends.

 

“At ang mas kamangha-mangha dito, ang mga biyahe niya ay kung hindi raw first class ay business class. At hindi lamang tumatagal ng tatlo, apat o limang araw ito at hindi din lang po on weekends katulad ng kanyang sinabi dahil mayroong dalawang linggo, tatlong linggo at may mga biyahe pa na tumatagal ng isang buwan!” Estrada revealed in his speech.

 

Sen. Estrada particularly cited these instances:

 

·         Cunanan departed for Tokyo via Northwest Airlines on September 9, 2007 and returned to the Philippines on October 3, 2007.

·         Cunanan departed for Dubai via Emirates on November 1, 2007 and returned to the country on November 14 , 2007

·         Cunanan departed for Nagoya via Northwest Airlines on January 9, 2008 and returned to the country on January 22, 2008

·         Cunanan left for Tokyo on June 19, 2009 and returned to the country on July 7, 2009

 

“Habang nasa gobyerno po si Cunanan, naging aktibo po siya sa Jaycees.  Binanggit ko po dahil matatandaan na noong nakaraang pagdinig natanong si Mr. Cunanan patungkol sa kanyang mga biyahe sa ibang bansa at  sinabi niyang siya ay nagbi-biyahe bilang officer ng Junior Chamber International or Jaycees at ang mga biyaheng iyon ay suportado ng Jaycees. Jaycees daw po ang sponsor at ang mga biyahe ay nangyayari on a weekend. Pati ba naman ang Jaycees ay ginagamit niya sa pagsisinungaling?” Jinggoy said.