Yup, Only the LTO and Other Deputized Agents Can Confiscate Your Driver's License

(SPOT.ph) We can't believe it has to be said but here we go: only a certain few have the legal authority to confiscate your driver's license. The Land Transportation Office thanked the Department of the Interior and Local Government on September 22 for reiterating this fact, thereby ideally clearing things up for us very confused motorists.

Also read: Heads Up: Number Coding Exemptions for Senior Citizens and PWDs Are Gone in Most Cities

LTO thanks DILG for memorandum on who can confiscate driver's licenses

The Land Transportation Office (LTO) posted on their Facebook page a statement regarding a supposed memorandum from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG). The said document reiterated that only the LTO and its "deputized agents" are officially allowed to confiscate the licenses of errant motorists, noted the transport body.

"Ikinalugod ng LTO ang nasabing utos ng DILG sa mga local government unit at sa lokal na puwersa ng pulisya sa buong bansa," they wrote in the caption. We're sure you've experienced having a sketchy traffic enforcer ask for your license; maybe your barangay even asked for a very long look; heck, there are even gated subdivisions that require you leave your license at the guard house. Well, know that that's a "No."

The DILG holds sway over local governments; their memo, said the transport body, reiterates the LTO's mandate as the foremost law enforcement agency when it comes to traffic: "may mandatong tiyaking naipatutupad at nasusunod ang mga batas-trapiko para sa kaligtasan ng publiko." They added that the memo will ideally open more opportunities for their agency to work with local government units.

And in case you ever need to cite it yourself, the LTO noted that Republic Act 10930 mandates that only they, and those they authorize, are allowed to confiscate licenses.