Several times, Land Transportation Office (LTO) chief Markus Lacanilao punctuated our conversations at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay news forum last Wednesday with a popular catch phrase: “Trabaho lang eto.” Roughly translated: “We’re just doing our job.” Lacanilao vows to equally enforce and apply to whoever whatever is the violation of the country’s land transport laws.
Lacanilao told us he ensures all motorists and other road users must face “accountability” for the registration of all land transport vehicles and issuance of drivers’ licenses by the Land Transportation Office. As the head of LTO – an attached agency of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) – Lacanilao was appointed assistant secretary in October last year.
The LTO chief reassured the public that he walks the talk in applying the full force of the law against erring motorists and vehicle owners but following due process. He warned of a no nonsense campaign against use of fake plates, which almost look exactly like LTO-issued plates. In fact, his team of LTO enforcers stopped two private vehicles bearing suspected fake plates on their way to our Kapihan news forum at Café Adriatico in Remedios Circle, Manila.
He conceded the proliferation of fake plates remains a big problem for the LTO, which they discovered were being sold on the online market place. Another headache of the LTO, he admitted, is the misuse of protocol plates by unauthorized vehicle owners. He credits Speaker Faustino Dy III who informed him that the House of Representatives of the 20th Congress no longer uses protocol “8” plates for congressmen.
Implementing zero corruption against erring personnel at his agency, Lacanilao also goes after fixers who ply their illegal trade on public transactions at the LTO. After all, he cited, the LTO remains among the top three revenue-generating agencies of the government, next to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs.
Making illegal business by “fixing” public transactions is criminalized under Republic Act 11032, or the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act, he pointed out. “It’s not my intention to make the public suffer (inconveniences). But we’re after criminals that I want to get out of the market,” Lacanilao stressed.
For the past 10 months, Lacanilao reported a total of 93 LTO officials and employees involved in illegal “fixing” activities were relieved, investigated and punished in accordance with Civil Service rules. Of this total were 12 LTO personnel in the National Capital Region, two of them division chiefs and nine were those assigned in Pasay City.
A total of 71 suspected “fixers” were arrested for violations of Quezon City ordinances for their nefarious illegal trade. He noted with grave concern that fixers have shifted to online accounts using Facebook and TikTok. To date, he disclosed, 90 online accounts from both social media platforms were taken down.
In the same period, Lacanilao cited, he approved the suspension of 579 drivers’ licenses and 744 were revoked for various offenses. The errant drivers went through the LTO process starting from being issued with show cause orders (SCO) before suspension or revocation is meted out on them. A total of 1,361 SCOs have so far been issued under Lacanilao’s watch.
Whether private individuals or government officials, rich or poor, celebrity personalities or just plain Juan or Juana dela Cruz, Lacanilao proudly points to his record haul so far on this score. The latest of his catch included the likes of local showbiz actors Niño Muhlach and Derek Ramsay, Bulacan Gov. Daniel Fernando and just last week, even Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) general manager Nicolas Torre III was not spared.
Caught on CCTV using the Busway carousel along EDSA on Aug. 23, the LTO issued SCO to the office of Torre involving a sports utility vehicle (SUV) bearing the MMDA logo on its side doors. Aside from the violation, Lacanilao noted the SUV patrol car was using a red plate that was registered to an MMDA truck.
Torre admitted having used the busway to check the traffic status of roadworks along the EDSA-Guadalupe Bridge and to respond to a stalled car on that day. Torre subsequently surrendered the MMDA patrol vehicle which is currently in the custody of the LTO pending the conduct of appropriate procedures and related investigation.
Lacanilao reiterated government vehicles are not above traffic laws. “Using the EDSA Busway and the mismatch between the license plate and the vehicle registered under it are matters that need to be explained, and those responsible will be held accountable if violations are found,” he stressed.
The 44-year-old Lacanilao transitioned from his tough role as Philippine special envoy on transnational crimes when President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (PBBM) first appointed him in August 2024. It was this previous job that tested his mettle in representing our country in international engagements and coordinating closely with cross-border law enforcement.
Lacanilao swore he was also merely “doing his job” when he figured prominently in the service of the warrant of arrest of the Interpol against former president Rodrigo Duterte. It was Lacanilao who accompanied ex-president Duterte on a chartered flight to The Hague, Netherlands, on March 11, 2025 when the latter was brought to face the alleged crimes against humanity charge filed before the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Testifying at a Senate public hearing on April 10 last year, Lacanilao allegedly gave evasive answers to the Senate foreign relations committee chaired by Sen. Imee Marcos. On the motion of Sen. Bato dela Rosa, Lacanilao was cited for contempt and was briefly detained. Citing the grounds of the contempt order did not pass through then Senate president Francis Escudero as required by Senate Rules and for humanitarian reasons, Lacanilao was freed the next day to attend to his grandfather’s burial that day.
Lacanilao continues to pull no punches as incumbent LTO chief.
Will just doing his job – without fear or favor – keep Lacanilao at the LTO?