New Protocol Plates Proposed
Metropolitan Manila Development Authority acting chairman Romando Artes is
calling for the Land Transportation Office to re-issue new protocol license
plates to government officials bearing QR codes that would make it easy to
identify to whom they were issued.
Artes was reacting to another case of vehicle bearing protocol license
plates getting apprehended inside the EDSA Busway.
It turned out the vehicle in question bore the No. 7 protocol license plate
issued to Sen. Francis "Chiz" Escudero.
Escudero later distanced himself from the incident, claiming that while the
SUV with the No. 7 license plates was his, it was being used without his
authority by the driver of a family member.
Soon after, Jonathan Gesmundo, Executive Assistant to Department of
Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista, said the driver would be summoned
for possible sanctions and penalties.
Meanwhile, it was reported that President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. has issued
an executive order that cut the number of government positions entitled to
use protocol license plates from 16 to 14.
There are suggestions to further limit use of protocol plates to just the
president and vice president. What protocol plates do is to show people
top government officials are privileged. Privileges that inherently lead
to abuse of authority.