LTO regional head accused of imposing ‘quota’ system

ROXAS, Isabela — A district officer of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) here has accused the agency’s regional director of obliging the 15 district offices under him to cough up a P15,000 monthly "quota" each, forcing flying squads to extort money from motorists.

"I sympathize with members of the flying squads who are in the forefront of extorting from innocent drivers just to meet the ‘quotong’ system," said Ernesto Fernandez, LTO-Roxas district officer.

The subject of Fernandez’s exposé is LTO regional director Moises Almuete, who is based in Tuguegarao City, Cagayan. He supervises district offices in five provinces, namely Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Batanes and Quirino.

Efforts to get Almuete’s side proved futile. He reportedly suffered a nervous breakdown following the exposé. A close aide said he has been under sedation.

Other LTO district officers, however, have sided with Almuete and dismissed Fernandez’s allegations.

Vicente Veloso, LTO district officer of Ilagan, Isabela, said Fernandez made the exposé out of "professional jealousy."

Ronald Aguada, district officer of LTO-Santiago City, echoed this, saying Fernandez "has been aspiring to become the regional director."

Insiders said Almuete and Fernandez are contemporaries in the LTO and that the latter was indeed one of the aspirants for the regional post.

Manuel Baricaua, the LTO’s regional legal officer, accused Fernandez of being a "bitter loser for the regional director post."

But Fernandez said he felt "morally obliged" to make the revelation "to salvage the image of the LTO from further ruin."

"I made this exposé to stop Director Almuete from further squeezing us to remit a P15,000 monthly quota for his personal use," he said.

An insider alleged that "a lot of money of different denominations has been submitted regularly" to Almuete’s office. He refused to give details.

A group of LTO employees, calling themselves the "Prejudiced LTO Employees," supported Fernandez’s allegations, and threatened to reveal more alleged anomalies in Almuete’s office.

The group also accused Almuete of alleged nepotism, favoritism and inefficiency.

They asked LTO chairman Edgardo Abenina to investigate the accusations against Almuete, saying a speedy inquiry will save the agency’s image.