|
On
the recent imbroglio involving the seizure of "hot"
cars by the Traffic Management Group (TMG) personnel, Atty.
Nilo Ahat has this to say:
"I
have some experience on this from a similar case I handled.
Three agencies are involved in this mess: TMG, LTO, and PNP
Crime Lab. If you ask any one of these three agencies why
the problem proliferates, each one will point at the two others
to be in cahoots with the carnappers.
In
fact, if you will scan the archives of Sunstar Cebu, there
was a news item sometime early this year that reported a near
shootout between TMG men and PNP Crime Lab men, right in front
of their respective offices, over this insinuation.
Also
on May 20, 2007, Sunstar carried an inside story which read,
"Accident leads to arrest of syndicate head." "Marcelo
T. Cabahug faces 20 carnapping cases, identifies himself as
a Major at RTMO-7 to CIDG official."
Anyway,
in fairness to TMG, they are very accurate at identifying
"hot" cars. In fact, they would know where to find
them, and they would also know the new plate number and even
the new color (if changed).
But
why are they good only at recovering "hot" cars?
Why are they not equally good or even better at apprehending
the carnappers? With this Bohol incident, I bet, you will
hear nothing about TMG's action against the source of those
hot cars even if there are names of previous owners in the
Certificate of Registration (CR) that would serve as lead
to the carnappers.
Instead,
what you will surely hear in due time is that the TMG already
turned over those vehicles to the Insurance Company that insured
them at the time of loss, they being subrogated to the shoes
of the original owner as a matter of law.
To
my mind, this is a multi-million dollar question, even bigger
than the ZTE Broadband Deal - To whom does TMG work for? If
they work for the state, then they should render compliance
to their master by bringing the carnappers into the folds
of the law.
But
if they work for the insurance companies, then its just right
that they will only be up at recovering those hot cars and
turning them over to their master. After all, they don't even
need the assistance of the state, like securing court orders
first, because they are already equipped with personal knowledge
as to the whereabouts, new plate numbers, and even the new
colors of those "hot" cars. TMG's actuations befit
the biblical quote: Render unto Cesar what is to Cesar, and
to the Lord what is to the Lord!"
Companero
Nilo, we only have one word to say, AMEN.
*
* * * * * * *
INBOX.
A reader, who identified himself as Demosthenes C. Amparo,
has this query via the e-mail: "Regarding your recent
reprint of the court rules: How come this is called "Amparo
Writ"?
Justice
Adolfo Azcuna, who, in the 1991 bar exam, asked this question
in Political Law, said the writ of amparo is "a special
constitutional writ to protect or enforce a constitutional
right (other than physical liberty which is already covered
by the writ of habeas corpus), in consonance with the power
of the SC to adopt rules to protect or enforce constitutional
rights."
The
word "amparo" comes from the Spanish verb amparar
meaning "to protect."
SP
UPDATES. The 10th Sangguniang Panlungsod of Tagbilaran
held its regular session last Wednesday presided over by City
Councilor Edgar R. Bompat who is the acting vice-mayor as
Vice-Mayor Jose Antonio S. Veloso is the acting mayor.
Among
the important pieces of legislation passed during the session
were the approval of the resolution giving authority to City
Mayor Dan Neri Lim to negotiate with any bank for the purchase
of new vehicles for the city police force.
The
city councilors also approved a measure which would move its
session days to Mondays in the afternoon effective Jan. 1
next year.
*
* * * * * * *
For
comments and suggestions, just e-mail to the following e-mail
addresses: obiter@boholchronicle.com
| 
