Arbitrary enforcement of imaginary road rules and finding the actual statutes and case law

[KenM]

Hi All,

I have had four experiences driving in Cebu that lead me to want to have access to the actual statues and case law if needed. Generally, in Cebu, enforcement is much more relaxed than in parts of Manila and drivers are more cooperative. But as a foreigner a small issue can be a bigger issue so I want to avoid them or show the officer on the spot. I find they often don’t know the law well. Things are enforced in an arbitrary manner. I know this happens in the west as well. Not bashing the Philippines in particular. But the language barrier is a problem and not knowing how to navigate the culture. There seem to be unwritten norms that are not in the law and thus normal safe driving in the U.S. or UK or any other country I have driven in may not apply here in practice.

The most recent experience was last night. On Maxilon avenue I have to make a left turn into a parking lot and then a left turn out when I leave. I do this once per week when I teach Aikido there. Last night the local Cebu traffic officers (not police) were issuing tickets for turning into this complex. They gave me a warning. The next car that pulled in while I was arguing with the officer they gave a ticket to. Another pulled in after that and they ignored it. All left turns over a double yellow line. The PH driving manual is not clear on this. It says not to cross the double yellow line. Various websites like pinoydriver and several ph car rental companies say it’s prohibited to pass over a double yellow but is permitted only to turn into a parking spot (the same rule as the rest of the world). Cebu country club and several shopping centers have guards whose job is to stop traffic to facilitate left turns in and out over the double yellow lines. I’m sure that it’s legal. At a minimum it’s arbitrary enforcement. As you will all know there are good reasons for this. If you make cars go until they can do a legal uturn in such situations you will end up with a traffic jam of cars at one spot trying to do uturns. It’s safer to allow the left turn only on parking. On Maxilon as an example you have to go very far out of the way to make a legal uturn as it’s all yellow double lines. If I had the law I would have helped the other drivers who got ticketed. 

Near Ayala mall recently I was making a legal left turn. I entered the box but had to pause when a car did not yield though it entered fast after me. The enforcer threatened to issue me a citation. For avoiding an accident and stopping in the box. I think he was just an unfriendly ass but it would have been good to have the law. I’m sure there is an exception for avoiding accidents. In practice around Ayala people have to enter the box and negotiate who goes when. 

A few months back I crossed an intersection parallel with a fly over. They don’t want you to do this. There is nothing in the drivers manual that discusses a requirement to always use the fly over. There were traffic lights there - though not on and not hooded - that implied it was legal to go forward. There were no signs saying to only go left or right or not to enter. There was no sign before the flyover saying to only use the flyover. Later I discovered all the required signage is present at the same intersection on the other side of the flyover going the other way. The enforcement officer would not admit the need for signage. I wrote Mandaue several times. They insisted that I had missed a sign that said all vehicles must use the fly over and implied there were other signs. I sent them photos which they clearly ignored. I was forced to hire an attorney to go down and show them the videos and photos because they would not look at my evidence. They then agreed that the signs they said were present were not present. Even then my attorney did not get it dismissed. Rather than a mandatory driving course and bigger fine they agreed to a small fine and nothing on my record. No class. My attorney never looked up the statutes or case law! Instead they apparently called around other attorneys to get the consensus on the law. $500 U.S. to hire an attorney because they would not look at the evidence from the Cano. The attorneys explained it by saying Filipinos in government don’t take criticism well. I would have just paid a small fine to avoid the trouble. But they were wanting to make me go to a class and would not discuss with me the implications for having anything on my license. I still never got a straight answer on that from my attorneys. Apparently the ability to renew your license can be affected but it’s not consistently applied. I’m quite certain that there must be a law requiring traffic control devices be present before enforcing traffic rules. In this case I’m not sure having the law would have helped much as the office was claiming imaginary signs were present. But maybe I could have shown the officer… though his English skills were not strong he might not have been able to read it. 

The first time I was stopped I made a u turn on a street with no markings. If they were ever there they have faded away, been paved over, and not repainted. The officer told me I crossed an invisible double yellow line. Then they asked for money.

Thanks, Ken 

 

Edited June 14, 2023 by KenM

[Old55]

Ken, fight a corrupt badge you lose.

The ignorant ones will resent being schooled by a Foreigner regardless of how correct you are.

No one can fix stupid. 

Politely give them the pesos or take a warning then get on with your life. Fighting them is about as useful as the painted lane lines.  

[manofthecoldland]

Sorry to say, but for some odd reason, this clip comes to mind.

 

[Mike J]

As @Old55 says, either accept the ticket or even fold a 500 peso not under your license as you hand it to the enforcer.   The system sucks, but fighting the system sucks even more. 

Now I have this song stuck in head for the rest of the day 

I'm breakin' rocks in the hot sun
I fought the law and the law won
I fought the law and the law won
I needed money 'cause I had none (ahh)
I fought the law and the law won
I fought the law and the law won
I left my baby and I feel so bad (ahh)
I guess my race is run (ahh)
But she's the best girl I've ever had (ahh)
I fought the law and the law won (ahh)
I fought the law and the law won (ahh)
Robbin' people with a six-gun
I fought the law and the law won
I fought the law and the law won
I miss my baby and the good fun (ooh)
I fought the law and the law won
I fought the law and the law won
I left my baby and I feel so bad (ahh)
I guess my race is run (ahh)
But she's the best girl I've ever had (ahh)
I fought the law and the law won (ahh)
I fought the law and the law won (ahh)

[Freebie]

Back in the days when I had a car in Manila , there were a few right turns on red that were very unclear and got stopped a few times , basically for following what other drivers did.

Fortunately the other occupant could always argue and so my licence was never impounded which would have caused problems as I was living in countries other than Philippines st the time .. and with ladies other than the then wife...I digress

 

So I found a list , freely available of all traffic laws in Philippines and printed it . Was about 30 plus pages. Next time I was stopped, the MMDA enforcer said Sir, fine P1000 for crossing that whit line or whatever was the BS of the day.

I said Sir please indicate to me, on these 30 pages  which law Im supposed to have broken. His face was a picture... "How did you get this etc "..

Sir its freely available to everyone. No he replied, these are private !

Couldnt find it... wanted to confiscate it. Told him he could keep the laws but not the printed pages,  as they were mine. That baffled him.

He then walked off ( stomped off actually ) to find a more pliant driver he could give some enforcement to.

[MikeB]

On 6/14/2023 at 2:10 AM, KenM said:

The officer told me I crossed an invisible double yellow line. Then they asked for money.

Did you offer to pay with invisible money?

[KenM]

11 hours ago, Freebie said:

Back in the days when I had a car in Manila , there were a few right turns on red that were very unclear and got stopped a few times , basically for following what other drivers did.

Fortunately the other occupant could always argue and so my licence was never impounded which would have caused problems as I was living in countries other than Philippines st the time .. and with ladies other than the then wife...I digress

 

So I found a list , freely available of all traffic laws in Philippines and printed it . Was about 30 plus pages. Next time I was stopped, the MMDA enforcer said Sir, fine P1000 for crossing that whit line or whatever was the BS of the day.

I said Sir please indicate to me, on these 30 pages  which law Im supposed to have broken. His face was a picture... "How did you get this etc "..

Sir its freely available to everyone. No he replied, these are private !

Couldnt find it... wanted to confiscate it. Told him he could keep the laws but not the printed pages,  as they were mine. That baffled him.

He then walked off ( stomped off actually ) to find a more pliant driver he could give some enforcement to.

To be clear, I am asking if anyone know where to access the actual traffic related statutes.

11 hours ago, Freebie said:

Back in the days when I had a car in Manila , there were a few right turns on red that were very unclear and got stopped a few times , basically for following what other drivers did.

Fortunately the other occupant could always argue and so my licence was never impounded which would have caused problems as I was living in countries other than Philippines st the time .. and with ladies other than the then wife...I digress

 

So I found a list , freely available of all traffic laws in Philippines and printed it . Was about 30 plus pages. Next time I was stopped, the MMDA enforcer said Sir, fine P1000 for crossing that whit line or whatever was the BS of the day.

I said Sir please indicate to me, on these 30 pages  which law Im supposed to have broken. His face was a picture... "How did you get this etc "..

Sir its freely available to everyone. No he replied, these are private !

Couldnt find it... wanted to confiscate it. Told him he could keep the laws but not the printed pages,  as they were mine. That baffled him.

He then walked off ( stomped off actually ) to find a more pliant driver he could give some enforcement to.

To be clear, this is what I mean to ask, does anyone know where to access the actual statutes?

[KenM]

4 hours ago, MikeB said:

Did you offer to pay with invisible money?

I said whatever is best. But I kept asking to have them explain what I did so I wouldn’t make a mistake in the future. They let me go without a citation.

[KenM]

On 6/14/2023 at 2:45 PM, Old55 said:

Ken, fight a corrupt badge you lose.

The ignorant ones will resent being schooled by a Foreigner regardless of how correct you are.

No one can fix stupid. 

Politely give them the pesos or take a warning then get on with your life. Fighting them is about as useful as the painted lane lines.  

The issues are 1) I have to go to this location every week and really need to make left turns and 2) I don’t want to get stopped all the time for unwritten rules. They can take your license if it’s an actual officer or take your vehicle. So I want to stop it dead before it gets to that. It makes me paranoid not know what the unwritten norms are that may substitute for the law.

I’ve heard about he 500 peso approach. Can you get in trouble for trying that? 

[MikeB]

53 minutes ago, KenM said:

They can take your license if it’s an actual officer

Not anymore:

https://www.rappler.com/nation/doj-legal-opinion-lgus-cannot-confiscate-drivers-licenses-traffic-violations/