AUTHORIZING THE BUREAU OF LAND TRANSPORTATION TO DISPOSE OG IMPOUNDED MOTOR VEHICLES UNCLAIMED BY OWNERS FOR A CERTAIN PERIOD OF TIME.

• Number: Presidential Decree No. 1729
• Sections: 6

Preamble

WHEREAS, there are many motor vehicles which, for reasons of

the various offenses committed by their owners, are now impounded by the Bureau

of Land Transportation and considered abandoned for failure of the said owners

to pay the required penalties or fines;

WHEREAS, the maintenance and security of such impounded and

abandoned vehicles are causing unnecessary expenses to the Bureau, which could

otherwise be channeled to and utilized for more reasonable and fruitful uses or

purposes;

WHEREAS, such impounded and abandoned motor vehicles may

cause unnecessary risks, harm and danger within the compound of the agency;

and

WHEREAS, there is the need to orderly dispose of such

impounded and abandoned vehicles at the Bureau or in any of its agencies.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the

Republic of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the

Constitution, do hereby order and decree:

SECTION l. - All motor vehicles, duly impounded by the

Director of Land Transportation or by his deputy or by any other authorized

officer, which are unreasonably and actually abandoned by their owners for

failure to pay the necessary and required fines and penalties within a period of

six months from the date of apprehension, shall be sold and disposed of by the

•Bureau of Land Transportation in a public sale: Provided, That, in all cases

before any public sale is done, the owners of the impounded and abandoned

vehicles shall be given written notice and the option to redeem the said

property after paying all the necessary charges within a period of fifteen (15)

days from the receipt of such notice or to participate in the public bidding to

be set and conducted by the Bureau.

Section 2

SEC. 2. - The owner shall answer for the storage fees the

amount of which is to be fixed by the Bureau and approved by the mister of

Transportation and Communications, for the services rendered in keeping the

vehicles, aside from the payment of a Penalty of P5.00 per day from the time the

vehicle is impounded, but in no case shall the total amount exceed 1/5 of the

appraised value of the vehicle.

Section 3

SEC 3. - The Bureau shall fix the time and place of the

public sale where all concerned and interested parties may participate in the

bidding and shall cause such notice of time and place to be published once a

week for three (3) consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation.

Section 4

SEC. 4. - After the public sale, the proceeds shall be

applied to all liens, fines, fees, penalties and such other charges like the

costs in the publication of notice: Provided, That whatever is the remainder

shall be returned to the former owners.

Section 5

SEC. 5. - All laws, decrees, letter of instructions, orders,

rules and regulations or any part thereof which are in conflict with the

provisions of this Decree are hereby repealed, amended or modified

accordingly.

Section 6

SEC. 6. - This Decree shall take effect immediately.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 7th day of October, in the year of Our Lord,

nineteen hundred and eighty.

(Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS

President of the

Philippines

By the President:

(Sgd.) JOAQUIN T. VENUS, JR.

Presidential

Assistant