Congressmen gang up on LTO chief at House hearing

MANILA, Philippines – Vehicles bearing the special protocol 8 plates – issued to congressmen – cannot be flagged down even if they are involved in traffic violations, including road accidents.

“We will not apprehend your honors, to give due courtesy to the occupant,” Land Transportation Office (LTO) Assistant Secretary Alberto Suansing told Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez when the latter asked if LTO agents will apprehend No. 8 vehicles that commit infractions.

Twice he was asked the question, and both times gave the same reply, which “surprised” the opposition congressman.

Suansing personally believes the “8” plates, or any other special protocol plates, are considered chapa (police badges) which make them immune from arrest.

This did not sit well with the lawmakers grilling him, particularly Baguio City Rep. Mauricio Domogan, who strongly disagreed with his conclusion.

“Actually it (8 plates) gives us a bigger responsibility because we have to be role models, the reason being we are lawmakers,” Domogan said.

Ilocos Norte Rep. Roquito Ablan joked that it is his face and not the 8 plates that serves as a police badge.

“I open the car window and when they (policemen) see my face, it’s okay,” he said, smiling.

Suansing got a dressing down from members of the House of Representatives as the transportation committee of Bacolod Rep. Monico Puentevella conducted a hearing Wednesday, pursuant to Resolution 744 of Speaker Prospero Nograles.

The panel is investigating the enforcement of Executive Order 400, which regulates the LTO’s issuance of protocol plates to government officials.

Suansing also admitted to lawmakers during the hearing that his son-in-law Michael Gonzales Conde used the special “8” protocol plates, even though he is not a lawmaker.

“The last time I saw my son-in-law driving a car with an 8 plate was sometime in 1998 or 1999, when he married my daughter,” he told Agusan del Sur Rep. Rodolfo Plaza, who inquired about Conde, who was reported to have used the protocol plates for congressmen.

Suansing said that his son-in-law is not a member of Congress and is not entitled to use protocol plates.

“If I see him using that plate again now, I will not only arrest him, dadagukan ko pa siya (I will also beat him up),” he added.

Suansing also told the Puentevella committee that he does not interfere in the business of Conde, even if Plaza showed that he was among the incorporators of a bogus foundation called Sagip-Buhay Para sa Mamamayan.

“I don’t know anything about that,” was Suansing’s reply, although his wife and children were among the firm’s stockholders as shown by the foundation’s registration papers in the Securities and Exchange Commission, which also listed as office address of their home in Sta. Cruz, Manila.

Suansing denied any involvement in the foundation or ever signing any papers of incorporation.

“How can you not know about this fraudulent foundation when it even has a signboard in front of your house?” Plaza asked.

Also during the hearing, Suansing issued a blanket denial on what appeared in newspapers quoting him as saying that lawmakers are selling their 8 plates for as much as P200,000 each and that numerous road accidents involve 8 protocol plates.

“I deny everything,” he told a panel of congressmen, who pointedly told him that he could have minimized damage to the institution had he corrected the reports early on by calling or writing Nograles about the issue.