In Duterte’s Davao City DAVAO CONGRESSMAN FINED FOR SPEED LIMIT VIOLATION

By Newsdesk.asia

BAYAN MUNA Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate was caught violating Davao City’s speed limit Tuesday night.

Zarate said he was flagged down by traffic police around 11:25 pm Tuesday while he was traversing the McArthur Highway from downtown Davao.

“I bought some medicines my sister requested me to buy, and I was startled when a uniformed police officer suddenly waived for me to stop,” said the lawmaker from the progressive partylist group Bayan Muna on a Facebook post. “I readily parked at the roadside while the officer approached and courteously greeted me…”

The police officer, he said, showed him the speed limit gun. The mark — 54kph.

“Mea culpa,” said Zarate. “I was speeding in a 40kph speed zone.”

He identified the police as one SPO1 Mallonga who immediately “left after issuing me my TOP to attend to other speed limit violators.” TOP stands for Temporary Operator’s Permit.

And what did he learn?

“Speed limits apply at all times, day and night in our city. No ifs, no buts,” he said.

He then used the hashtags #davaospeedlimit, #mydavao, and #lifeishere.

First-time traffic offenders in Davao are asked to pay P2000 and P3000 for second-time offenders, while third-time offenders will face the suspension of their license to drive of up to 6 months. Repeated violators will face the possibility of having their license revoked and the payment P10000.

In January last year, Inday Sara Duterte-Carpio was also fined for violating the speed limit law.

The former mayor of Davao was driving 57kph along Quimpo Boulevard, an area where the speed limit is only 40kph.

Executive Order No. 39, which was issued by Mayor Rodrigo Duterte last year, has sparked widespread opposition. But Duterte said a limit has to be set to reduce road accidents.

The Traffic Management Center and the Land Transporation Office have recorded a huge decrease in road accidents since the law was implemented.

In September, LTO Davao Director Gomer Dy said there was a 20 percent drop in the minor road accidents and 60 percent decrease in fatal road accidents last year.

The agency has also collected P56.6 million from traffic violators in 2014.

The money, however, went to the national government.

(Photo credit: Cong. Zarate photo downloaded from Google. Image of Cong. Zarate traffic ticket downloaded from Newsdesk.Asia)