A traffic enforcer confiscated my driver's license — is that allowed?

Short answer

Yes — and if you have read that the LTO "can no longer confiscate," that headline is about something else. The April 2023 LTO memorandum behind those reports is titled "Prohibition on the Confiscation of Motor Vehicle LICENSE PLATES": it stops enforcers taking your plates in lieu of impounding the vehicle, and says nothing about your driver's licence. On the licence itself the position changed in 2026 and you should not assume you must hand it over. LTO Memorandum Circular No. 2021-2299 (6 December 2021) §IV said "the confiscation of the driver's license shall be mandatory in all cases" — but the Department of Transportation issued Transportation Memorandum Circular No. 2026-001 on 9 January 2026, and press reporting says it suspends confiscation of driver's licences in LTO apprehensions. We have not yet read that circular ourselves, so we will not tell you it is settled; what we can tell you is that it exists, that the LTO's own follow-up circular of the same date was issued "in line with" it, and that you should ask the officer for the e-TOP and ask on what authority a physical licence is being taken. The other thing the news reports cover is WHO: only the LTO's own Transportation Regulation Officers and the officers it has duly deputized (DTROs) may take a licence. An LGU traffic enforcer holding no LTO deputation, a barangay tanod, or a security guard may not. A lawful apprehension produces a ticket — now usually an electronic e-TOP printed from the officer's handheld device — which is both your temporary licence, valid seventy-two (72) hours from the apprehension, and a summons to settle within fifteen (15) WORKING days. Read the expiry carefully, because this is where drivers get caught twice: past the 72 hours you are not driving on a temporary permit, you are driving unlicensed, and that is a separate problem from the ticket. On the settlement clock, LTO MC No. MVL-2026-4846 (9 January 2026) is specific: the fifteen days are counted in WORKING days from the date of apprehension, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, declared non-working holidays and days when government work is suspended — and failing to settle inside it means automatic suspension or revocation of the licence for thirty (30) days, on top of the fine. The officer may never take money at the roadside: MC 2021-2299 §VI provides that TROs and DTROs are "strictly not allowed to accept cash payment or use a personal payment account (E-Wallet) to settle any apprehension."