Driver’s License Confiscation Did Not Actually Stop

03/30/2026

What It Means

Driver’s license confiscation in the Philippines is still happening at the local government level, even after the DOTr and LTO said it should stop.
DOTr Department Order No. 2023-015 only binds LTO enforcers and DOTr-deputized agents. It does not cover LGU traffic enforcers operating under local ordinances.
The Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling barring license confiscation by LGU enforcers applies only to Metro Manila, leaving cities and provinces outside NCR free to continue the practice.
Bacoor City in Cavite signed an MOA with the LTO for the single ticketing system but still operates a confiscated license process on its official government website as of March 2026.
For truck drivers, delivery riders, and fleet operators, the gap between national policy and local enforcement is not abstract. It costs them workdays and income.

In January 2026, DOTr Secretary Giovanni Lopez told the public that driver’s license confiscation in the Philippines is no longer necessary. The digital license accessible through the LTMS portal is valid. Enforcers should accept it. Physical cards don’t need to be taken anymore. The LTO backed this up by suspending confiscation and extending the violation settlement window to 15 working days.

That was the announcement. On the ground, nothing changed for thousands of drivers outside Metro Manila.

LGU Enforcers Operate Under a Different Set of Rules

The DOTr’s position rests on Department Order No. 2023-015, which recognizes the e-driver’s license and directs LTO law enforcement officers and their deputized agents to accept it. The operative phrase is “LTO law enforcement officers and their deputized agents.” That does not include LGU traffic enforcers operating under city or provincial ordinances.

Secretary Lopez acknowledged this directly. In a media interview, he clarified that the memorandum circular covers only DOTr and LTO-assigned enforcers, including those deployed on expressways like NLEX, SLEX, SCTEX, and TPLEX. LGUs and the MMDA are separate entities, he said. They fall under the DILG.

So when a city traffic enforcer in Bacoor, Cavite pulls over a truck driver and confiscates a physical license under a local ordinance, that enforcer is not violating DO 2023-015. The order simply does not apply to them.

This is the gap. National policy says one thing. Local enforcement does another. And both are technically operating within their own legal authority.

The Legal Patchwork That Keeps Driver’s License Confiscation in the Philippines Alive

The DILG issued its own memorandum in September 2022 directing LGU traffic enforcers and the PNP to stop confiscating licenses. The memo was clear: only the LTO and its deputized agents have the legal mandate to confiscate, based on Republic Act No. 4136 and a Supreme Court ruling under RA 10930.

Manila City pushed back immediately. Its spokesperson publicly stated that LGUs with valid traffic codes are authorized under the Local Government Code and that Manila would continue enforcing under its own ordinance. That defiance made national news.

In July 2023, the Supreme Court settled the issue for Metro Manila. In G.R. No. 209479, the Court en banc ruled that the MMDA has exclusive authority over traffic enforcement in the National Capital Region. Metro Manila LGUs were permanently enjoined from issuing OVRs and confiscating licenses through their own enforcers, unless those enforcers are deputized by the MMDA.

But that ruling is geographically limited. It applies to Metro Manila. LGUs outside NCR were not covered by the decision. Cities like Bacoor, provinces like Cavite, and municipalities across the country continue to enforce their own traffic codes. And many of those codes explicitly authorize driver’s license confiscation in the Philippines as a standard penalty.

Cavite province’s published penalties page still reads: for number coding violations, “the violator’s driver’s license shall be confiscated and issued a ticket.” That language is current and publicly accessible on the provincial government website.

*Social Media Posts of LGU’s Confiscating Driver’s Licenses*

Bacoor Signed a Digital Enforcement Deal, Then Kept the Old System Running

What makes Bacoor a useful case study is the contrast between its commitments and its operations.

In 2024, the City of Bacoor entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with the LTO to adopt the LTO-LGU Interconnectivity Single Ticketing System. Under this system, traffic enforcers would not confiscate driver’s licenses. Violators would receive a ticket, be registered in the LTMS, and pay fines through digital platforms like GCash or Maya.

That was the agreement. As of March 2026, Bacoor’s official government website still hosts an active process page titled “Surrendered OVR and Confiscated License.” The page details the procedure for traffic enforcers to surrender confiscated licenses, including original copy submission and transmittal form signing. Entries on the parent category page run through March 2026.

The city also maintains a separate page for “Redemption of Driver’s License,” outlining how motorists can reclaim confiscated cards by settling fines and presenting official receipts at the traffic management office.

This is not a legacy page that was forgotten. This is an active process running alongside a signed commitment to stop doing exactly this. Viral social media posts from affected drivers, particularly truck operators working through Bacoor, confirm that driver’s license confiscation in the Philippines is still a daily reality in the city. One Facebook reel from a truck driver in Bacoor, citing the DOTr and LTO orders, received nearly 5,000 engagements. Another post challenging enforcers on confiscation generated over 13,000 likes.

The Operational Cost Falls on Drivers and Fleet Operators

For a truck driver, a confiscated license is not just an inconvenience. It’s lost income. The process of retrieving a confiscated card from a city traffic management office means a trip back to the LGU, waiting in line, and paying whatever fine the local ordinance prescribes. For a driver who operates across multiple jurisdictions, one confiscation event can cost an entire workday or more.

Fleet operators and logistics MSMEs absorb this cost indirectly. If a driver cannot work because a license was confiscated by an LGU enforcer who does not recognize the DOTr’s no-confiscation policy, that’s a scheduling disruption with no recourse. The digital license does not protect the driver in that situation because the LGU enforcer is not bound by the order that made the digital license valid.

This is the structural problem with the government’s push to digitize traffic enforcement. The technology works. The LTMS portal is functional. The e-driver’s license is accessible. But the enforcement system it plugs into was never unified. National agencies, the MMDA, provincial governments, and city halls all operate under overlapping and sometimes contradictory legal authorities. Until that jurisdictional patchwork is resolved, driver’s license confiscation in the Philippines will continue regardless of what any single department order says.

The digital license assumes a unified system. The Philippines does not have one yet.