In a bid to crack down on abusive motorists, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC) has decided to prohibit, under pain of criminal prosecution, further use of all the commemorative license plates that were commissioned by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for their diamond jubilee celebration.
This is in line with the memorandum order signed last June by DoTC Secretary Mar Roxas denying the request of the NBI for the extension of the validity of the coveted car plates that the agency had began issuing in November 2010 in observance of its  75th founding anniversary.
The DoTC order made particular mention of the ubiquitous “NBI@75” commemorative plates which were allegedly being peddled by certain enterprising NBI employees to only-too-willing clients at a whopping P5, 000 a pop.
Based on the info provided to us, aforementioned commemorative plates were supposed to have been good only until April 2012, nevertheless dozens of private vehicles have been monitored to be still sporting them in violation of the provisional authority granted by the DoTC for their use in lieu of the license plates given by the Land Transportation Office (LTO).    
The NBI officials are said to have also come out with their own warning for motorists, who had availed themselves of the commemorative plates, to immediately remove said plates from their vehicles since continued use of such is illegal and could only make them criminally liable if they happen to be apprehended on the road.
The NBI had earlier been bombarded with criticisms from the public that regarded the plates as a convenient replacement for the wang-wang that President Aquino characterized as the embodiment of all the abuses perpetrated in past administrations and railed against in his first State of the Nation Address in July 2010.
Other notable commemorative plates currently in circulation are the “PNP 111” issued by the Philippine National Police, “prosecutor” issued by the Department of Justice and Prosecutors League of the Philippines and “QCPD” to mark the 72nd anniversary of the Quezon City Police District.
Everybody is aware of the fact that car owners purchase such commemorative car plates thinking they can circumvent existing traffic rules and regulations, mainly the number coding system that the MMDA strictly enforces during work days to ease the traffic situation.


It is quite lamentable that PNP chief Nicanor Bartolome and his bumbling crew in Camp Crame are still totally in the dark regarding the whereabouts of the so-called “Big Five” group of high-profile criminal fugitives (some of whom have been missing for over a year) and so far have failed to capture them.
This includes Delfin Lee, owner of the Globe Asiatique realty development company, who was ordered arrested some months ago by a Pampanga court together with four others for syndicated estafa in allegedly defrauding the Pag-Ibig Fund of some P7-billion worth of housing loans; Palawan Gov. Joel Reyes and his brother Coron, Palawan Mayor Mario Reyes who are the prime suspects in the murder last year of environmental activist and radio commentator Doc Gerry Ortega; Dinagat Rep. Ruben Ecleo, leader of the religious cult Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association, who had disappeared after being convicted and sentenced to a prison term of 20 to 40 years by Judge Soliver Peras of the Cebu Regional Trial Court for the “brutal, dastardly and inhumane” killing of his wife Alona in 2002; and retired Brig. Gen. Jovito Palparan who is being sought in connection with the 2006 kidnapping and illegal detention of UP students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeno.
Ironically, C/Supt. Generoso Cerbo, the PNP spokesman, has been crowing to mediamen about their supposed glowing achievement in arresting some 14,000 wanted criminal nationwide during the first semester of 2012.
Duh.
Cerbo lamely theorized that the Big Five have been able to elude arrest due to their money and connections in the government, which have aided them in keeping out of reach of the law.
A P1-million bounty has been offered for Palparan’s arrest, the Reyes siblings carry a P1.55-million reward while Ecleo has P150,000 for his head. And not one red cent for Lee.
It was disclosed to us that director Sammy Pagdilao of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) had ordered the creation of an 80-man task force purposely to hunt down the Reyes brothers, Palparan and Ecleo.
Curiously, Lee’s name had been omitted from the PNP-CIDG hit list. What gives? Why is Lee being handled with kid gloves by the police?