Police starts enforcing license plate law today

Enforcement of the new law that license plates on both the front and rear must be displayed on all vehicles begins today, according to the Department of Public Safety.

DPS commissioner Edward Camacho said that he has already instructed his personnel patrolling the streets to begin enforcing Public Law 14-18.

With that, Camacho said all vehicles being operated on roads must be in compliance with the requirement, except for those whose plates are designated for annual registration between July and September.

“All vehicles must have them except those that fall under July, August, and September because we still do not have plates for those months,” he said yesterday.

He said police officers have already been instructed as to which months will be exempt from enforcement.

Aside from the mentioned months, all other license plates are now available at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles at a cost of $5.

Camacho said enforcing of the new law was supposed to begin 90 days after it was signed into law on July 12, 2004, but this was extended after the department’s Bureau of Motor Vehicles ran short of license plates.

According to the DPS Traffic Section, the educational process featured distribution of brochures informing the general public of the new requirement during various checkpoints in the previous months.

In signing the new law, Gov. Juan N. Babauta said the law would greatly enhance the ability of law enforcement officials to quickly identify vehicles and assist residents in recognizing vehicles entering their private property.

Camacho praised the passage of the law, as it will prevent the sharing of registration stickers.

The new law states that operating a vehicle that has no license plates on either rear or front sides is a misdemeanor, entailing imprisonment or fine.

Rep. Claudio Norita, a former police major, introduced the bill, along with Reps. Jesus SN. Lizama, Janet U. Maratita, Crispin M. Ogo, and Ray N. Yumul.

The bill stated that the display of plates at the rear of vehicles has presented problems for the DPS, “creating difficulty in identifying fleeing vehicles.”

BMV usually issues two license plates to vehicles but the old law did not require a plate to be attached to the front of the vehicle.