MANILA (UPDATED) — Elements of the Philippine National Police-Highway Patrol Group will soon have instant access to the Land Transportation Office database to check if a vehicle has been used in a crime, the LTO chief said Monday. 

LTO chief Vigor Mendoza II said the data-sharing agreement with the PNP is meant to do away with the current system where the police need to request for information from the LTO. 

"Collaboration will be faster. Hindi na kailangan dumaan dun sa may request pa, automatically dapat may access kaagad sa data," he said in a TeleRadyo Serbisyo interview, adding that the project should have been accomplished years ago. 

Mendoza earlier said the LTO will develop a verification facility which will enable the PNP-HPG to verify motor vehicle registration records information pertaining to motor vehicles that are under investigation and/or alarmed.

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Authorized police Highway Patrol Group personnel can also go to the LTO Command Center on an interim basis to verify motor vehicle registration records data that are under investigation or are subject of an alarm.

Access to the LTO database will be on a “read-only basis” and will only cover the details in the Certificate of Registration and Official Receipt, registration record history pertaining to the previous transfers of ownership and encumbrances, and other items to be verified and any material that may be relevant in the investigation.    

Mendoza said the agreement goes both ways, allowing LTO to access the PNP database to check if a vehicle up for registration was used in a crime. 

Access to the PNP database will also speed up the process of registration, he said.

POTENTIAL ABUSES

The Automobile Association of the Philippines (AAP) welcomes this data-sharing between PNP and LTO, but AAP president Joe Ferreria said it should be information sharing should be in real time.

“Maganda yung idea- I subscribe to it — pero kailangan real time hindi puwedeng interim solution — ibig sabihin connectivity ang issue d’yan. Halimbawa, may PNP personnel, dapat sa telepono pa lang nila ma-a-access, kasi kung hindi real time yan wala nang silbi yung information,” Ferreria told ABS-CBN News.

According to Ferreria, authorities should also make sure that the said data-sharing is secured against hacking.

“Paano mo masisiguro na walang hacking diyan,” Ferreria explained.

Meanwhile, Dominic Ligot of Data Ethic PH said, law enforcement agencies of the government should have access to LTO’s database but it should also have clear safeguards to avoid possible abuses to information of motorists.

Ligot warns of possible invasion of privacy and violation of due process

“Dapat limited yan, its limited to vehicles of people who are under investigation. Pero, technically, if you have access to data — real time man yan o hindi — technically anyone puwede mo i-inquire yung plaka ng kahit sino,” Ligot explained.

According to Ligot, the LTO and PNP must ensure that human rights will be protected at all times.

“The access itself is not the issue,  its more of the use of the access. We just want to make sure na protektado pa rin yung rights ng mga tao. Alam naman natin na pag second hand vehicle, hindi naman agad-agad nalilipat yung pangalan niyan diba. Pwedeng dyan tayo magkaroon ng complications. At yung paggamit ng facility na yan should be in the context of law enforcement,” Ligot added.

One of the challenges that authorities should address according to Ligot is the process of selling second-hand vehicles in the country.

Ligot believes car owners should make sure that the ownership of the vehicle is immediately transfered to its new owner to avoid inconvenience in case the car gets involved in a vehicular accident or any crime.

“Actually it even happened to me…malalaman mo andami mong hit sa pangalan mo….usually its hard to track, I feel that really more of the process of selling second hand vehicles eh — dapat if you are a citizen — dapat i-ensure mong mailipat agad sa pangalan ng bumili. May kalakaran ngayon open titled na sasakyan.  Convenient sa pag-transact pero nasa huli ang pagsisisi pag nagkaroon ng problema yung sasakyan,” Ligot explained.

The LTO earlier said the PNP is mandated to allow the LTO to validate the Motor Vehicle Clearance Certificate (MVCC) submitted by the registrant for the initial registration of motor vehicles, and other miscellaneous transactions such as transfer of ownership, change of engine/chassis, color, and body design to ensure the authenticity of the MVCC. 

The validation shall be facilitated by the PNP-HPG Motor Vehicle Clearance Division which shall be used by the PNP-HPG for free and without additional cost to PNP-HPG clients.

Mendoza said the LTO hopes to finish the data-sharing linkup by the end of October. 

Next in the pipeline is a project that will allow PNP and local government units to access LTO cameras in real time.