LTFRB chief denounces smear campaign

Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) chairman Dante Lantin decried yesterday what he described was a "vilification campaign" against him, allegedly orchestrated by an official of a jeepney association.

Sources from the transport industry have alleged that Lantin’s accuser was engaged in "fixing" at the LTFRB and Land Transportation Office (LTO), and was even charged with swindling by a franchise applicant from whom he allegedly received P8,000.

Lantin said certain operators, who failed to obtain "concessions" from him, were also behind the smear drive.

But he is confident that his reputation as an honest, competent and dedicated public official would shield him from the "malicious vilification drive" against him.

In a related development, Romualdo Maranan, chairman and national president of the 350,000-strong Federation of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines (Fejodap), informed newly appointed Transportation and Communication Secretary Pantaleon Alvarez that "there are so-called heads of certain jeepney groups whose agenda appear to be not in accordance with public interest."

Maranan identified a jeepney association which, he said, is headed by a known "fixer" in the transport industry.

In a letter to Alvarez dated Jan. 29, Maranan urged the DOTC "to display political will and strength of position in dealing with those who have been resorting to threats of mass action against the government to obtain what they want."