REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

REGIONAL TRIAL COURT

NATIONAL CAPITAL JUDICIAL REGION
BRANCH 24, QUEZON CITY

NORIE T. BAYTIC,
Petitioner,
- versus -

ADMIN. CASE NO. 42611

For:
Temporary Restraining

Order
LANDTRANSPORTATION OFFICE
Respondent.
x---------------------------------------------x

COMPLAINT
Petitioner, through counsel, and unto this Honorable Court, most respectfully
states that:

PARTIES
1. Petitioner, NORIE T. BAYTIC, of legal age, Filipino, single and a resident of
Quezon City with postal address at 123 Atlantic Ocean, No. 168 Sampaguita St.,
Brgy. Culiat, Quezon City;
2. Respondent, THE LAND TRANSPORTATION OFFICE (LTO) located at East
Avenue, Quezon City, is an agency under Department of Transportation and
Communication (DOTC) mandated by Executive Order (E.O.) No. 1251 to inspect
and register motor vehicles, issuance licenses and permits, enforcement land
transportation rules and regulations, adjudication of traffic cases and collection of
revenues for the Government.

1
EO No. 125. REORGANIZING THE MINISTRY OF TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATIONS
DEFINING ITS POWERS AND FUNCTIONS AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. January 30, 1987
Page 1 of 5

STATEMENT OF FACTS
1. On June 02, 2014, DOTC issued a Joint Administrative Order (JAO) No. 2014-01
entitled Revised Schedule of Fines and Penalties for Violations of Laws, Rules
and Regulations Governing Land Transportations, in which Section II(e) provides
a penalty of Five Thousand Pesos (Php5,000.00) for any failure to attach or
improper attachment/tampering of authorized motor vehicle license plates and/or
third plate sticker.
2. On March 20, 2015, Respondent LTO issued Memorandum Circular No. AVT2015-1927 entitled No Plate, No Travel Policy. Pertinent provisions reads:
Section 1. Any vehicle without license plates shall be stopped and the driver
must present the Certificate of Registration (CR) and Official
Receipt (OR) of the vehicle;
Section 2. If only CR/OR are presented, a fine of Php 5,000.00 shall be imposed
for failure to attach the plates;
Section 3. xxx
Section 4. If without CR/OR, the driver must present the following: (a)
Certificate of Stock Reported; (b) Sales Invoice, which must be
dated within seven (7) days prior to the apprehension; and (c)
Certificate of Insurance Cover, which must be dated on or after the
date of the Sales Invoice.
Section 5. In the absence of any of the above, the vehicle owner shall be fined
the amount of Php 10,000.00 for using an unregistered vehicle and
the driver shall be fined the amount of Php 1,000.00 and cited for
reckless driving;
Section 6. xxx
Section 7. This is without prejudice to the liability of the concerned
manufacturer, assembler, importer and dealer; and
Section 8. All apprehensions may be contested within five (5) days therefrom.

3. That starting April 01, 2015, the Respondent immediately implemented the
Memorandum Circular that no four (4)-wheeled motor vehicle can be used, driven
or operated on the roads without being duly registered with the Land
Transportation Office (LTO) pursuant to R.A. 41362, Joint Administrative Order
No. 2014-01 and other applicable rules and regulations as provided by the said
Memorandum Circular.
4. That on March 30, 2015, Linglingay Dimasalanta, a sales agent of Toyota Otis,
Inc,. located at 1770 Paz M. Guazon St., Paco Manila, delivered a brand new
Lithium Toyota Fortuner Gas 4x2 car bought by the petitioner.
5. That the new brand new Lithium Toyota Fortuner delivered by Linglingay
Dimasalanta to the Petitioner does not have a license plate registered with LTO.
6. It is a usual business practice of Toyota Otis, Inc. and the rest of the Car
manufacturers to bind itself to register the newly purchased vehicle with LTO, and
to deliver newly purchased vehicle even without license plate while applying for
2
RA 4136. AN ACT TO COMPILE THE LAWS RELATIVE TO LAND TRANSPORTATION AND
TRAFFIC RULES, TO CREATE A LAND TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES. June 20, 1964.

Page 2 of 5

registration, so that buyers can use their new vehicles when necessary.
7. That on April 01, 2015 at three (3) in the afternoon, the Petitioner drove her brand
new vehicle without a plate from her house in Quezon City heading to Baler,
Aurora.
8. That at around 3:30 in the afternoon on the way to Baler, along Balintawak near
the Home Depot, an LTO enforcer named John Paolo Agbada immediately
flagged down a Lithium Toyota Fortuner driven by the petitioner upon seeing it
without a plate.
9. The LTO enforcer approached the motor vehicle when it stopped, asked the
reason why Petitioner is driving a vehicle without a plate number despite of the
circular issued by the LTO, and required the driver/motor vehicle owner to present
the following:
9.1 The Certificate of Registration (CR) and Official Receipt
(OR) of the vehicle;
9.2 Sales Invoice of the Motor Vehicle, the same being dated
within seven (7) days prior to the date of apprehension;
9.3 Certificate of Stock Reported;
9.4 Certificate of Cover (COC) of Third Party Liability (TPL)
Insurance, the same being dated on or after the issuance of
the above Sales Invoice (SI);
9.5 Certificate of Stock Reported (CSR) as issued by this Office,
the same dated on or prior to the issuance of the above Sales
Invoice (SI);
10. That although the Petitioner started looking for the vehicles OR/CR placed in her
bag, the enforcer still issued a ticket against the Petitioner for the violation of No
Plate, No Travel Policy. And despite the compliance and presentment of
complete documents by the Petitioner, the LTO enforcer ordered Petitioner to pay
Ten Thousand Pesos (Php10,000.00);
11. That in order to settle things accordingly, Petitioner contested the apprehension
made by the LTO enforce to the LTO Central office located in East Avenue,
Quezon City.
12. That the Petitioner requested an exemption from the fine of Php10,000.00
imposed by the enforcer, stating that the vehicles Sales Invoice (SI) was only
issued on March 30, 2015, which is still within the seven (7)-day grace period for
registration;
13. That the LTO Officer in the LTO Central Office did not grant plaintiffs request.

CAUSES OF ACTION
14. The LTO circular No Plate, No Travel policy is unconstitutional since it violates
Section 1, Article III of 1987 Philippine Constitution, which provides:
Section 1. No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due
process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equal protection
of the laws.

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15. By depriving the petitioner of her property without due process, the provision of
the Constitution is grossly violated.
16. The owner of brand new vehicle should not be penalized for not having a license
plate since she has no intent to violate law.
17. The Memorandum Circular was re-enforced at the time when people in Metro
Manila needed their cars to travel for the long vacation and visit their relatives to
their provinces
18. LTO has backlog not only in the issuance of new license plate but also registration
stickers.
19. LTO has lapses in issuing the new circulation since it was implemented when
thousands of car owners are expecting to use their vehicles immediately and LTO
had history of delayed plate release for more than ten (10) months.
20. Provided further that the Petitioner is guilty of No Plate, No Travel Policy, she
is not bound to pay the Php10,000.00 fine imposed by the LTO enforcer because
Section II(e) of JAO 2014-01 clearly levies a fine of Php5,000.00 for any failure
to attach or improper attachment/tampering of authorized motor vehicle license
plates and/or third plate sticker.

ALLEGATIONS IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFFS PRAYER

FOR DECLARATORY RELIEF
21. Defendant had no sufficient reason to impose such circulation at the time of the
demand of vehicle on Holy week.
22. That defendant should give owners of private vehicles a temporary permit if it
cannot produce new plate on time.
23. The amount fine imposed was unreasonable.

PRAYER
WHEREFORE, it is respectfully prayed of this Honorable Court that:
1)

Defendant be made to pay, in favor of the Plaintiff:

i)

Moral Damages in the amount of Php 50,000.00;

ii)

The costs of this suit.

Other just and equitable reliefs are also prayed for.

Page 4 of 5

Quezon City, April 16, 2015.

JUAN DELA CRUZ III

JUANA AND ASSOCIATES
Counsel for the Defendant
Room 208, 2nd Floor,Aloha Building
59 Tandang Sora Avenue, Quezon City

By:
JUAN DELA CRUZ III
PTR No.5555555, 1/18/15, Quezon City
IBP No. 555555, 1/16/15, Quezon City

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