In fact, Piston noted, with D.O. 39’s newly implemented graduations of offenses — from second to fifth — with the corresponding stiffer penalties, more drivers will likely opt to pay bribes to avoid suspension of their license. In whatever case, drivers stand to lose a great chunk of their income.

Assuming that a driver manages to take home P300 ($6.35) for a day’s work, being charged with driving without license would set him back by P1,500 ($31.75). The fine used to be P750 ($15.87). The driver would have to borrow money from a loan shark to pay the fine.

Thanks to these drivers, the LTO regularly belongs to the top five government agencies with largest revenues. Drivers are also a boon to internal revenue allotment-starved cities and municipalities. But all these revenues never give back any benefit or social service to drivers.

“We know that the bulk of our national budget goes to debt service and budget for the military and police. Only a pittance goes to social services such as health and education, minus the portion that goes to corruption,” Piston said in a recent statement.

This gives them more reason to oppose DOTC Dept. Order 38 and 39. “We’re building up toward launching a transport strike. We hope that most drivers and concerned citizens would support our protests,” said Ranjo. (Bulatlat.com)