Noted but the city government of Manila will continue confiscating the drivers' licenses of motorists who had been issued traffic violation citation tickets by its enforcers.

Atty. Princes Abante, the spokesperson of the Manila local government, said the city is duty bound to enforce its own Traffic Code under Ordinance 8092, and that includes confiscating drivers' licenses.

Abante issued the clarification amid a recent memorandum by Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos that only the national government agency Land Transportation Office can legally confiscate the licenses of erring motorists.

Nonetheless, Abante said the city government respects the policies of the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

She pointed out that the authority of the Manila LGU to confiscate drivers' licenses emanates from the Local Government Code that empowered local governments to pass and enforce laws within their respective jurisdictions.

In the Supreme Court case Metropolitan Manila Development Authority versus Garin, the High Court ruled that agencies of government not allowed by Republic Act 4136 to confiscate drivers' licenses should only do so after getting permission from the LTO.

RA 4136 is the Land Transportation and Traffic Code that also created the LTO, the agency that licenses drivers and registers all motor vehicles in the country.

A source within the office of Mayor Honey Lacuna said that she would coordinate soon with Abalos to clarify his memorandum on the non-confiscation by LGUs of drivers' licenses.