IT’S about time Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales exercised the motu propio (i.e. on its own initiative) investigative powers of her office and filed graft charges against officials of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and its mother agency, the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC), for its latest extortion racket: the “kotong” license plates. It is an illegal taxation scheme by government agencies acting beyond their powers and authority.

Right before the Christmas holidays, the LTO’s chief, Assistant Secretary Alfonso Tan Jr., came out with a half-page advertisement in some daily broadsheets (not the Times) announcing that beginning January 1, 2015, all motorists renewing their vehicle registration will be required to pay an additional P450 for the replacement of old license plates with the so-called “standardized” plates.

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