Ramon C. Mafnas, as Department of Public Safety commissioner, unlawfully seized some eight to 10 driver\u2019s licenses from alien workers across a period of several months, according to Police Capt. Pete Leon Guerrero.<\/p>\n
A veteran lawyer told Saipan Tribune that taking a driver\u2019s license requires some due process of notice and an opportunity to be heard.<\/p>\n
Leon Guerrero said that Mafnas over a period of time confiscated driver\u2019s license from Filipinos and two Bangladeshis and gave them to his secretary, who then passed the licenses to Leon Guerrero, at the time a uniformed services commander at DPS.<\/p>\n
The police captain said that he then made it a point to return the licenses to their owners.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s against the law! There\u2019s Public Law 16-3, if I\u2019m not mistaken,\u201d said Leon Guerrero, who spearheaded the petition seeking Mafnas\u2019 ouster from DPS.<\/p>\n
He said the licenses were not even expired, hence his insistence on returning them to the owners. \u201cI don\u2019t want to get sued. I\u2019m hanging on to people\u2019s driver\u2019s license when I\u2019m not supposed to,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said all the licenses were eventually returned to the owners who were contacted and advised to pick them up at DPS. Leon Guerrero said that Sgt. Anthony Macaranas helped him contact the owners and return their licenses to them.<\/p>\n
When asked if he told Mafnas that what he was doing was unlawful, Leon Guerrero said that he did so on several occasions. \u201cBut no, he is the commissioner. So he believes he\u2019s got the right [to seize the licenses],\u201d the captain said.<\/p>\n
He said Mafnas is lucky because these people did not file a complaint. \u201cThose licenses were supposedly not to be confiscated in the first place,\u201d he pointed out.<\/p>\n
Saipan Tribune earlier asked a veteran lawyer about Mafnas\u2019 alleged confiscation of driver\u2019s licenses and he explained that the commissioner is a law enforcement officer and does have the authority to enforce the law.<\/p>\n
He believes, though, that DPS standard procedures require the use of marked vehicles for traffic enforcement.<\/p>\n
The lawyer, who asked not to be identified, said if the commissioner observes a violation or crime in progress, either he reports it or takes action himself as a law enforcement officer.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf there is a traffic violation, the motorist is either given a warning or gets a citation. A person really should get an administrative hearing before his\/her license is revoked or taken away,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThink about it, he takes a person\u2019s license and then tells him\/her to go? To drive without a license? There should also be a notice to the motorist about the license and when he\/she will have a hearing on its return,\u201d the lawyer added.<\/p>\n
The attorney, however, emphasized that a commissioner usually doesn\u2019t do this because he or she will end up being a witness in traffic court, just like any other police officer.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlus a person does have civil rights and even a traffic stop does have certain requirements under Terry v. Ohio and subsequent cases,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The lawyer said a person can also complain of theft of his or her license if the commissioner does not present himself as a law enforcement officer, clearly identifying himself as a peace officer.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is dangerous because a person may believe the commissioner to be falsely claiming to be a police officer and defend himself,\u201d the lawyer said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, police officer Jason Tarkong said yesterday in a statement that any questions regarding the leave status and ongoing investigation on Mafnas can be forwarded to press secretary Angel Demapan.<\/p>\n
\u201cRegarding DPS Commissioner Ray Mafnas, any change in the department will always cause issues. So far the department is moving forward. All divisions, sections, and units are continuing on with their mission at hand, which is to provide public safety to our residents and visitors,\u201d Tarkong said.<\/p>\n
Tarkong said acting commissioner Ambrosio T. Ogumoro has met with commanders and supervisors individually to reinforce Gov. Benigno R. Fitial\u2019s messange on continuing with the mission of public safety.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ramon C. Mafnas, as Department of Public Safety commissioner, unlawfully seized some eight to 10 driver\u2019s licenses from alien workers across a period of several months, according to Police Capt. Pete Leon Guerrero.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-160073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160073"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160073\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}