LTO Chief Clears Self on Extortion Raps

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

DAGUPAN CITY – The chief of the Land Transportation Office here absolved himself on the issue of extortion perpetrated by personnel of the LTO.

“You ask the team leader of the “flying” squad in the regional office so you can confirm the veracity of the accusation,” retorted by this city’s LTO’s District Chief Richard Agbayani to media men who asked his comment on the charge.

This city's LTO chief reaction was taken after a driver of the Downtown Loop plying public utility jeep (PUJ) complained at Sonshine Radio about the illegal stickers sold by the association president and the LTO to drivers to insulate them from harassment by LTO’s “flying” squad.

The yellow sticker is stamped conspicuously at the windshield of every PUJs’ drivers and operators who submit with this racket.

Agbayani cited he has no hands there because he is only relegated for office’s duty.

“Ang concentration natin sa opisina natin pag process ng mga license, mga registration. Pag tungkol diyan sa mga collection hinde ko alam kung ano iyan,” he stressed.

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The whistle blower even computed the monies earned in this racket if it involved all the PUJs in the 44 towns and 4 cities' province.

 “One thousand jeeps in Pangasinan multiplied by one hundred pesos then that is one hundred thousand pesos a month for the LTO and the presidents of the jeepney’s organizations who are in cahoots with the corrupt officials of the LTO,” the driver cited.

He said they toe the line because they fear the LTO field task force can fine them from four thousand pesos to eight thousand pesos to any violation the traffic enforcers of the LTO’s whimsically see.

Recently, the LTO was assailed by various quarters here after two colorum vans‘ drivers were apprehended by the Public Order & Safety Office here.

The flagged illegal utility vans resulted to the revocation by the LTO's brass in the regional office of this city’s local government’s POSO Chief Carlito Ocampo’s deputization to issue Temporary Operator Permit (TOP) against erring drivers.

Ocampo said the two vans used as public utility vehicles (PUVs) were part of the 40 vehicles that illegally ply from Urdaneta City and this city.

“They don’t even have terminal here,” Ocampo said.

In the past, the LTO regional office in San Fernando City in La Union was accused of being recipients of sums from bus operators.

 Media reports including this paper said that certain bus company based in Lingayen, Pangasinan bribed LTO officials in the region and the province for P30 thousand a month for the use of these improvised plates.
 “Dito sa Pangasinan nakaka half-a-million pesos na in a month ang LTO dahil diyan sa kambal plaka,” a source who asked anonymity told this paper.

Regional Director Teofilo Guadiz III, when asked about this accusation, said he did not know about the protection money that changed hands between rogue LTO personnel at the regional office and the province and the conspiring franchisee.