NATIONAL Police Traffic Management Group (TMG) personnel on Monday conducted a crackdown on violators of the “no plate, no travel” policy and bagged at least 50 violators inside Camp Crame, Quezon City, the force’s general headquarters.

Chief Supt. Nicanor Bartolome, National Police spokesman, said the police leadership ordered the TMG to conduct its own crackdown inside the general headquarters compound to “show the National Police’s sincerity” in going after abusive motorists who continue to violate the policy.

“We will continue to implement the ‘no plate, no travel policy.’ There would be no letup in the operations,” Bartolome said.

Majority of the violators were police officers and “prominent” politicians who happened to be inside the camp when the crackdown was launched.

Bartolome, however, did not disclose the names of the owners of the vehicles caught without license plates or sporting only commemorative plates that are no longer allowed by the Land Transportation Office (LTO).

The crackdown on motor vehicles without license plates or sporting expired commemorative plates started more than a week ago upon orders by the National Police chief, Director General Avelino Razon Jr., following the recent bloody incidents of bank robberies and other related crimes.

The perpetrators in these crimes usually used vehicles without license plates in fleeing from the scene of the crime.

In a little more than a week, the TMG reported that it has accosted 250 violators, all in Metro Manila.

There were times during these operations that Razon led in accosting violators on the streets in the metropolis.

Meanwhile, Bartolome warned policemen-violators of the policy that they face administrative charges for repeated violations in using vanity or commemorative plates.

“Policemen should give a good example in the campaign, they should be wary of this policy, otherwise, they will face administrative sanctions,” he said.

Bartolome also reiterated the National Police’s warning to all motorists, especially those using government vehicles, that there are no exemptions in the campaign.

“Wala tayong sasantuhin sa kampanyang ito. Ang ginagawa natin ay hindi ningas-kogon,” he stressed.

He said that since January, the campaign netted 11,947 vehicles in connection with the “no plate, no travel policy,” 1,158 heavily tinted motor vehicles and those sporting tampered license plates, 38 using fake driver’s license and 146 with expired registration.

CA to Meralco: Refund P.5M to couple

THE Lopez-controlled Manila Electric Co. must pay a couple P500,000—lower than the demanded P1.38 million—as “temperate damages” for a defective electric meter that resulted in an unreasonable increase in their electric bills.

ZAMBOANGA CITY—The military on Monday filed a cease-fire violation complaint before the Joint Committee on Cease-fire and Cessation of Hostilities (JCCCH) against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), whom it accused of starting the fighting in Basilan, on Sunday.

PRESIDENT Arroyo on Monday sent off a 30-member medical mission to Burma to help in international relief efforts for victims of a devastating cyclone that hit that country early this month.

AS the rainy season starts and a number of typhoons are expected to hit the country, billboard advertisers assured that they have complied with the regulations set by government agencies concerned and met the latest engineering standards.

NATIONAL Police Traffic Management Group (TMG) personnel on Monday conducted a crackdown on violators of the “no plate, no travel” policy and bagged at least 50 violators inside Camp Crame, Quezon City, the force’s general headquarters.

THE volume of motor-vehicle traffic in the island-province of Basilan has posted a marked increase during the last two years.

It may be an indication of the increase in economic activities on this island, which was associated in the past with Abu Sayyaf-linked fighting and kidnappings.

THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) started on Monday its series of public demonstrations and presentations on automated voting for the August 11 elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), at a public forum organized by the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), an election watchdog.