James Deakin calls out LTO for ‘double standard’

Vlogger James Deakin spoke up on Thursday after the Land Transportation Office (LTO) earlier held a press conference on the traffic violation that his son allegedly committed last December. 

Deakin said that whether or not his son violated traffic rules was never the issue. The transport proponent-host noted that the main issue was the 15-day deadline, despite the weekends and holidays, and the unnecessary paperwork. 

“The main issue was the 15-day deadline that included the 8 or 9 days the LTO were closed, as well as the demands for unnecessary paperwork that is not in the Citizens Charter. Those are the questions that people wanted answers to,” he said in a Facebook post. 

“Yet despite the public outcry about that, the LTO held a press conference to answer a question nobody asked: whether or not my son violated traffic rules. Again, this was never in question.”

The LTO on Wednesday said that Deakin’s teenage son committed reckless driving for crossing the double solid line and for driving an unregistered vehicle on the Skyway Stage 3 last December 18. 

The agency argued that the Deakin failed to provide the necessary documents for the vehicle. It was later discovered that the car is not designed for use on Philippine roads. 

For his part, Deakin said that it was his first time to hear that the vehicle involved was unregistered. But he admitted that the car was not theirs. 

“For context, this is not our vehicle. It was a loaner. I accepted it in good faith as it had the conduction sticker and temporary plate—but regardless of that, I understand that ignorance is no plea for the law so I accept full responsibility for not having double checked it first before letting my son drive it. I own that,” he said. 

Further, Deakin accused the LTO of having a “double standard.” 

“With that aside, my question here is, if the violation was as blatant and offensive as the LTO chief and the media made it out to be, why was it not cited in the traffic violation? How did the traffic enforcer miss that? What is the penalty for driving on a conduction sticker and why wasn’t it administered on the spot? How did it get through every layer at the LTO East Avenue head office during the settlement process and not have been picked up? I’m not trying to escape responsibility here, but neither should you, LTO. I mean, if you couldn’t detect it despite all those official layers, why are you publicly crucifying a 19-year old new driver and his dad for the same thing?” he said. 

“This only proves my point that there’s a double standard at the LTO.” 

The LTO earlier said that a reckless driving citation is not a criminal offense. 

The agency has also issued a show-cause order against the car dealer due to the absence of necessary documents. Likewise, it issued a show-cause order against the traffic enforcer who issued the ticket to explain his side.

GMA News Online reached out to the LTO for a comment. —Vince Angelo Ferreras/RF, GMA Integrated News