Suggestion PNP checkpoint (joke)

Yesterday evening around 6pm there was a checkpoint on the south highway between Bacong and Dumaguete, they call it a checkpoint but it really was only a place where all the illegal motorbikes parked before it (north & south) and partially blocked the road.
I have no police training but i could deduce the reason they did not want to go through was that the the bike was somehow illegal, the PNP did not appear to have seen this or the traffic chaos it was causing as they did not walk the few meters it would have taken to arrest or move on these people.
Why do they bother, next time just stay in the police station and stop f$%king up the traffic for no good reason.

 

It is all a just a SHOW... nothing really happens.

One time I was stopped at check point. I do not avoid them as I am always fully legal, and most times after seeing you a few times they wave you through. When the officer asked for my registration, I said yes, but since it in the area of the battery it will take some time to get it out. After you look at it, I suggested strongly, we will walk south down the highway 50 meters and check all the bikes parked there, The we will walk North and look at those bikes. The Officer then suggested that my bike was legal and I could go.

The point is there are not there to confiscate bikes, or arrest, or ticket... they are just there so they look like they are doing something... better than getting caught sleeping in a office chair.

In Bacong most bikes are not properly licensed and the drivers do not have drivers licenses. They just do not go into Dumaguete very often. How many times have you seen a young WIDE eyed scared-to-death motorcycle driver, with their mother on the riding on the back. The drivers are scared to death because they are probably way less than 16 years old, not licensed and do not know what they are doing. They are very dangerous because you do not know what "knee jerk reaction move" they will make when confronted with any driving situation. Just keep you eyes out in those situations.

 

I suspect that the PNP LEGALLY could do as you suggest but don't. In the US it would be an illegal / unconstitutional act due to not having probable cause to suspect a crime had been committed but they WOULD do it because they want the revenue and most people would just pay and not fight it in court.

I actually prefer the PNP way. I actually avoid the pile up and approach the inspection point at 20 KPH in my jeep and they wave me through without checking my papers. Problem solved.

Funny thing is I hadn't obtained a watertight container to put the papers in so they were at home. If they actually had checked it would have been an Oops moment. I made it a priority and got a container the next day and from then on I had papers with me.

 

Was it a Comelec checkpoint? I thought they were just checking for weapons and driver's license? I have been through a couple of those north of Sibulan and they don't care about the motorcycle and those papers, not do they care about helmet and stuff like that.

 

I was flagged down in my car, I pulled over and waited for the officer to approach. When he eventually made the arduous 6 meter walk, I asked what the problem was, he said we are a Comelec Checkpoint. I said please go ahead and check, he then told me to go. 50 meters either side of the checkpoint were dozens of invisible motorcycles, which the PNP ignored, most probably because they would have to confiscate their relatives motorcycles.

 

My fiancee was caught up in that wondering what to do. Her license expired at the begining of the month and she forgot to renew it and hasn't had time since she remembered to spend a bit of time at Robinsons with school starting up and other issues we have been dealing with. She debated stopping with the illegal group but took the chance to ride on through nodding at the LTO guys as she drove through and they waved her right on by like they almost always do for me.

I honestly like the *idea* of check points if they actually did their job with it which would include getting behind all the stopped bikes waiting 100 meters down the road and nabbing them. They should be removing driver's w/o licenses and motor's without registration with just giving a few months or even 6 month expire allowance at most. Further those motors should be impounded until they get their registration renewed which many couldn't even do w/o some serious repairs as there is supposed to be a check on all safety equip such as brakes and lights along with muffler and exhaust checks.

The *probable cause* in the US argument also doesn't even hold water there. IF the police set up a checkpoint checking all vehicles equally given certain parameters that exclude anything to do with the driver (such as vehicles over 5 years old) or so forth it would technically be legal. They would have difficulties arresting anyone they find possibly but would be able to write out citations, tickets, and impound vehicles. They could even make arrests but would get trickier and based on liberal cries needing to prove a few things to try and prove their was no intent to try and find criminals and one just happened to show up. The problem comes down to the areas that such things would likely do good things are mostly in minority areas or highly liberal cities which of course the call of racism would be loud. Out in the country it is more likely to be whites w/o proper documentation for their vehicle while inner city areas are the place for all the minorities to be w/o proper documentation which is also where the real hazard is.

 

Some years ago, 2012 I seem to Remember, we had an LTO Chief (Roland Ramos) who was getting really into this, Unfortunately he upset The Capitol Building by Citing Divers on their way to or From Work and even Official Vehicles. To me he was doing the Job he was paid to do yet Got Moved to Bohol as his Reward. I wonder just how far the local Enforcement actual is allowed to go before the wrong people [sic] get caught up in it.

 

I went by the checkpoint this morning. Surprisingly, they had it set up in the area with the most shade. lol

 

What would they be checking vehicles for in the US? Inspection stickers go on the windshield. They can run your license plate number and find out if the vehicle is registered and if it is insured even if there isn't a registration sticker in the windshield. We have come a long way towards being a police state in the US but I don't think we have people with runes on the collar of leather trench coats yet saying Papers, show me your papers. Not that some police officers don't already think they have that ability. The point is that they don't need to see your papers unless they are fishing for just about anything to arrest people for and the fourth amendment still applies. And it sure does p*ss some police officers off.