The City Transport and Traffic Management Office (CTTMO) has filed criminal charges against the two drivers who were apprehended in Barangay Sasa during the crackdown against fake identification cards (ID) on Wednesday.
“We have already filed charges of falsification of public documents against the violators,” CTTMO chief Dionisio Abude said.
The CTTMO conducted the operation against fake identification following information that some drivers are using fake IDs.
Abude said it is only the CTTMO that issues driver’s ID and these are issued for the protection of the riding public.
CTTMO traffic enforcers have been randomly flagging PUVs plying within the city to check the drivers’ ID.
Abude said CTTMO has also received reports that there are people manufacturing fake driver’s IDs especially in Toril area.
“We received information that in Toril area, there are people who make fake driver’s ID. We verified it and we found out that it is true,” he said.
Abude vowed to continue the crackdown to ensure that drivers are holding IDs issued by the city government.
During their operation last month, Abude said CTTMO personnel caught some drivers using IDs with no Quick Response (QR) code. Drivers were then brought to the office for the issuance of IDs with QR code.
The city-issued PUV IDs have special features, such as the QR Code, which can be verified through the smartphones issued to traffic enforcers. Once the ID matches the details of the QR code on file, the drivers are immediately cleared and allowed to proceed to their travel.
“In our operation, we’ve seen that there are a lot of PUV drivers and also tricycle drivers who operate without PUV ID,” Abude said.
He said there are still 8,000 unclaimed PUV IDs out of 22,000 drivers who already underwent drivers education program.
“Probably, these (8,000) drivers have no franchise or certification from the PUV operators that they are the legitimate drivers,” he said.
During the release of the PUV IDs, CTMMO requires drivers to present approved franchise and certification from operators.