Department of Transportation (DOTr) acting Secretary Giovanni Lopez on Monday ordered the revocation of authority for Department of Transportation (DOTr) officials, and those from its attached agencies, to use protocol license plates to prevent misuse and abuse.
The move comes in response to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s directive to prohibit the unwarranted use of special license plates by government officials to avoid traffic and possible apprehensions.
Lopez issued a memorandum “revoking all previously-issued authorization to use protocol license plates given to officials of the DOTr Central Office, including its sectoral and attached agencies and corporations.”
The order also directs concerned officials to surrender their plates. The Land Transportation Office (LTO) is undertaking coordination and measures to implement the directive and has been instructed to review and clarify certain provisions of the Joint Administrative Order (JAO) 2024-001 and submit an updated inventory of all issued plates.
The JAO streamlined the issuance of low-numbered or protocol license plates to prevent their unauthorized use by ranking government officials and private citizens.
Lopez, in the same memo, also ordered a prohibition on the use of sirens, blinkers and other similar signaling or flashing devices by officials in the DOTr Central Office, its sectoral and attached agencies and corporations.
This follows President Marcos’ Administrative Order No. 18, which restricts the use of sirens or “wang-wang,” blinkers and similar gadgets by government officials. The LTO has been instructed to implement and monitor compliance.
Lopez earlier asked DOTr Undersecretary for Internal Audit and Special Concerns Ricky Alfonso to explain why he should not face disciplinary actions after his involvement in a viral road incident, which included the use of protocol plate number 10 and ‘VIP’ blinkers.
Lopez said public officials are “constitutionally mandated to be accountable to the people, serve them with utmost responsibility, integrity, loyalty, and efficiency, and act with patriotism and justice and lead modest lives.”
He said the use of protocol plates and the unauthorized use of blinkers do not automatically confer any sort of VIP status to any public official.
Alfonso was given three days to submit his explanation. Alfonso’s driver was earlier fired and his license suspended for 90 days based on a show cause order issued by the Land Transportation Office.
