New Government Plate # 17

**_Qwerty_** · March 6th, 2009 10:46 AM

nadagdagan na naman ang mga pasaway!

Palace issues new protocol plates
By Marvin Sy Updated March 06, 2009 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines - As if there weren’t enough special “protocol” plates, Malacañang has decided to issue another one – number 17 – for judges of the metropolitan and municipal trial courts and sharia courts.
Complaints from motorists about the proliferation of vehicles with protocol plates and the abuses committed by the owners of these plates were apparently not enough to warrant an end to the issuance of this type of license plates.
In memorandum order 297 issued by Malacañang last March 2, No. 17 was added to the existing protocol plate numbers for the judges.
Abuses committed by the owners of these license plates have been reported countless times and even caused a word war between the Land Transportation Office and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Allegations of the number “8” protocol plates assigned to members of the House of Representatives being sold and used by unauthorized motorists caused a minor conflict between Speaker Prospero Nograles and then LTO chief Alberto Suansing.

At the time, the LTO even considered bringing back the practice of printing the province and district of the congressmen on the protocol plates for easy identification.

Nograles opposed Suansing’s proposal for security reasons.
Almost all motorists in the country have encountered the abusive behavior of the drivers of vehicles with protocol plates.
Aside from reckless driving, some of these vehicles even use sirens and blinkers to intimidate motorists.

Even more cases were reported about vehicles with protocol plates being driven by people other than the authorized owner.
While most of the protocol plate owners are easily identifiable, the ones used by the members of Congress, justices, associate justices, judges and undersecretaries are more difficult to identify because these are issued to multiple individuals.

Protocol plate 1 is issued to the President, 2 to the Vice President, 3 to the Senate president, 4 to the House speaker, 5 to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (SC), 6 to Cabinet Secretaries, 7 to senators, 8 to congressmen, 9 to associate justices of the SC, 10 to the presiding justice and other justices of the Court of Appeals, 11 to the Commission on Elections chairman, 12 to Cabinet undersecretaries, 13 to the Solicitor General, 14 to the chiefs of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police, and 16 to the Regional Trial Court judges.

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx...bCategoryId=68

**vinj** · March 6th, 2009 04:30 PM

Saw this also.. AMP, what's with the protocol plates for all these positions really??? We need this like we all need another gunshot in the head IMO.

Kulang nalang i see an 8 plate on a EDSA bus.

**Galactus** · March 6th, 2009 07:01 PM

Engot talaga tong si Pandak na to!!! What the hell was she thinking when she signed that AO?!

I just hope that whoever assumes the presidency next year, eh i-repeal lahat ng related PD's, EO's and AO's on protocol plates.

**ess** · March 9th, 2009 11:19 AM

Originally Posted by Galactus

I just hope that whoever assumes the presidency next year, eh i-repeal lahat ng related PD's, EO's and AO's on protocol plates.

Either that or gawin na lang niyang legal to throw stones, eggs, hollow blocks, etc. at cars bearing these plate numbers.

**absinthe** · March 10th, 2009 08:07 PM

pinakita sa TV Patrol World at 24 Oras, isang black Mazda 3 meh protocol plate "4", pinahuli mismo ni Speaker Nograles dahil nagkasalubong daw sila sa EDSA...

dapat isa lang ang protocol plate, "1"...these protocol plates are a major source of road abuse...especially those pesteng "8"...ok pa nga dati eh, nakalagay kz yung district kaya alam mo kung saan...ngayon, hindi na...and almost everyday I see these "8" plates na 2004 o 2007 pa expiry yet ginagamit padin...

meh nakikita ako dito sa Makati area, 16*OSG plate, harap at likod protocol plate at todo pawang wang pa...sarap batuhin eh!