Lawmakers on Wednesday urged the National Bureau of Investigation to provide the Land Transportation Office with a “negative list” of individuals facing criminal charges instead of requiring applicants for professional driver’s licenses when applying for both NBI and police clearances.
At a hearing conducted by the House committee on transportation, lawmakers led by Abakada party-list Rep. Jonathan dela Cruz urged the LTO to implement a new policy where applicants will be given the option to submit either an NBI clearance or a police clearance.
“Instead of requiring everybody to get NBI clearance, what we can do is request the NBI to provide the LTO with the ‘negative list.’ People can then get either the police or NBI clearance if the LTO already has the ‘negative list’ from the NBI,” Dela Cruz told the panel as he moved for the adoption of his motion by the panel.
Prior to Dela Cruz’s motion, Leyte Rep. Andres Salvacion Jr., demanded scrapping of the LTO policy.
“While there may be a need for driver’s license applicants to submit a police clearance, furnishing the LTO with their NBI clearance would no longer be compulsory if the agency could have access to the NBI’s ‘negative list’,” Salvacion said.
But LTO Assistant Secretary Alfonso Tan Jr. defended the policy of the LTO in question, saying the submission of the NBI clearance by driver’s license applicants was already an old requirement.
Tan said it was only when the LTO required both the NBI and police clearances that drivers and transportation groups raised a howl of protest.
“I have discussed this with transportation leaders. They are admittedly opposed to it, not because they’re questioning the wisdom of the requirement, but because they have members in their ranks that have hits with the NBI, They have no problem with the police clearance; it’s only the NBI clearance they take an issue with,” Tan said.
The Transportation department earlier suspended a new policy of the LTO requiring applicants for driver’s license to secure first a clearance from the police and NBI.
Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya Jr. said “the LTO policy of having both [clearances] as a requirement will be suspended for the meantime until such study and coordination would be done with the police and the NBI for a more efficient coordination regarding this and they will come up with guidelines on what pending crimes will be included.”
Abaya’s decision came after the new LTO order issued last October drew heavy flak from several drivers and transportation groups.