Yearender: Resignations, scandals hound LTO, LTFRB

MANILA, Philippines - Controversies marked leadership changes in the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) this year.

The appointments made by President Aquino were preceded by the resignation of Jaime Jacob from the LTFRB and the retirement of Virginia Torres, then LTO chief, from government.

Torres, who had hurdled repeated calls for her resignation in the past, the most prominent of which was her much-publicized rift with the LTO’s IT provider back in 2010, announced in early October that she was “retiring” from government service by the end of the month.

From being an LTO district officer in Tarlac, the hometown of the President, Torres was tapped to head the agency. She headed the LTO for three years.

When she announced her move to leave the government, Torres denied that Aquino had sacked her and said she had talked to the President earlier about her plan.

Video evidence

Torres’ move to leave the agency came on the heels of the latest controversy she had faced: a video circulating that purportedly showed her playing at a casino.

Torres denied any wrongdoing in the incident and said she was ready to be investigated. The then LTO chief claimed the video – taken in a place showing rows of slot machines, with ringing music in the background – was taken “with malice.”

Torres even said she would be ready to answer the allegations against her in the investigation being conducted by the Department of Transportation and Communication.

In 2010, Torres figured in a publicized rift with Stradcom Corp., then the IT provider of the LTO, stemming from a video purportedly showing Torres in the company of the group of the estranged business partner of Stradcom president Cezar Quiambao, then taking over the company offices inside the LTO compound in Quezon City. The failed takeover disrupted operations for several hours.

Torres denied the allegations but a Department of Justice probe panel recommended that she be placed on preventive suspension.

After a graft case was filed against her before the Office of the Ombudsman, Torres took a leave of absence in April 2011. She came back after a few months.

Stradcom filed a graft case against her before the Office of the Ombudsman for her alleged refusal to pay the company billions in pesos for its services. Torres was then citing an intra-corporate dispute between two factions claiming ownership of the IT firm.

Also this year, Torres figured in a dispute with Sen. Vicente Sotto III, when the lawmaker said a provision of the newly signed Anti-Drunk and Drugged Driving Law – which allows for random drug testing of drivers suspected to be under the influence of drugs – was repealing the mandatory drug testing for applications for driver’s licenses.

Torres initially countered this and said she was awaiting the recommendation of the panel crafting the implementing rules and regulations of the new law. But she eventually gave way and issued an order repealing the mandatory drug-testing rule.

Shortly after Torres’ retirement, it was announced that LTO executive director Alfonso Tan, would be officer-in-charge of the agency.

The President eventually named Tan as the new chief of the agency in mid-November. Tan joined the LTO in September 2011 after he was appointed executive director by then transportation and communications secretary Manuel Roxas II.

Corona prosecutor named LTFRB chair

Following Jacob’s resignation from his post as LTFRB chair in March, President Aquino appointed lawyer Winston Ginez in April to head the agency.

Ginez was among the lawyers who volunteered to assist the prosecution team during the impeachment trial that led to the ouster of former chief justice Renato Corona.

But according to Ginez, his background in the legal profession was the reason for his appointment and that the post was not as a reward for his having been a private prosecutor in the Corona impeachment trial.

According to Ginez, the “modernization” of the LTFRB and intensified operations against “colorum” vehicles would be his priorities.

Upon Ginez’s assumption in office, the board announced it would implement a 15-year age limit for public utility buses nationwide and a phase-out policy for taxicabs nationwide by not granting those cabs aged 13 and above franchises.

The board, under Ginez’s leadership, suspended the franchise of a cab tagged by a passenger who claimed she was drugged with a chemical sprayed by the cabbie.

Ginez also spearheaded the enforcement of a ban on wrap-around advertisement on buses.

This month, the board suspended the entire fleet of bus company Don Mariano Transit, whose unit figured in a fatal accident along Skyway in Parañaque.

The board is currently investigating the case against the company and intends to hold public hearings on the matter next year.