MANILA – The Land Transportation Office (LTO) enforcers will begin issuing automated tickets to traffic violators next week as part of the agency’s drive towards digitalization and efforts to curb corruption.
In a statement on Monday evening, the LTO said enforcers will be issued with law enforcement handheld mobile devices (LEHMD) that would be used to issue electronic Temporary Operators’ Permits (TOP), replacing handwritten TOPs.
“Idaraan na ito sa handheld device upang awtomatikong maipasok sa online system ng LTO (It will use the handheld device to automatically enter the violation into the LTO online system),” it said.
Assistant Secretary Jose Arturo “Jay Art” Tugade, LTP chief, said once a violation is entered into the LEHMD, it cannot be tampered with.
“Next week po ay hindi na mag-i-issue ng manual TOP ang mga enforcer ng LTO. Kaya sa mga motoristang nahuli ng LTO enforcers ay machine-generated TOP na ang inyong matatanggap (Next week LTO enforcers will stop issuing manual TOPs. To motorists out there who will be apprehended, you will receive machine-generated TOPs),” Tugade said.
The next phase of the LTO’s digitalization, he said, is to enable cashless payment for traffic fines and penalties right at the moment of their apprehension.
“Ang mga LEHMD ay mayroong camera at fingerprint scanner para magamit ng mga LTO traffic enforcer sa pagberipika kung peke o totoo ang ipiniprisintang driver's license. Maaari rin nilang gamitin ang camera bilang face recognition scanner (An LEHMD has a camera and fingerprint scanner that can be used by an LTO traffic enforcer to verify whether the license presented is real or fake. They can also use the camera as a facial recognition scanner),” he said.
These devices use two mobile data SIM cards for internet connectivity to transmit data to the LTO online system and in case there is no data connection, the LEHMD can still issue a traffic violation ticket.
“Once mobile data connectivity is available, all transactions will be uploaded and saved to our servers,” he said.
To ensure their readiness, LTO enforcers underwent a refresher course on the use of LEHMDs.
The devices were also field tested to ensure they are in working operation. (PNA)
