SUV with ‘fake’ Senate plate enters EDSA busway, flees

MANILA, Philippines — A sport utility vehicle (SUV) bearing a “7” protocol plate assigned to senators illegally entered the EDSA bus lane on Sunday and nearly hit a traffic enforcer, but the Land Transportation Office (LTO) said the plate is fake.

“The initial information we have based on the assessment of the pieces of evidence at hand is that the ‘7’ protocol plate attached to the SUV in the viral video is fake, and that there was no protocol plate issued to the same type of vehicle,” the LTO said in a statement yesterday.

The “7” protocol plate is usually reserved for senators.

The incident took place at 6:58 p.m. at Guadalupe Station’s northbound exclusive bus lane.

In a video shared over social media, a Department of Transportation Special Action and Intelligence Committee for Transportation (DOTr-SAICT) traffic enforcer, Sarah Barnachea, recorded herself standing in front of the SUV – which had illegally entered the exclusive lane – while repeatedly telling the driver to stop.

The driver allegedly tried to run over Barnachea.

After a few moments, Barnachea told the driver to back out of the lane, which they did. When asked to stop again in order to verify their identity and get their driver’s license, the SUV continued backing out of the lane, ignoring her repeated requests.

A second enforcer, identified as Secretariat Reyno, tried to assist. A voice can be heard telling Barnachea to take care and not be sideswiped by the SUV as it kept ignoring her while backing out.

A man in the front passenger side can be seen guiding and telling the driver to back out, while another passenger in the back seat briefly opened their window and seemed to take a photo or video of Barnachea.

The SUV continued reversing until it found an opening in the bus lane barrier, through which it escaped.

The DOTr-SAICT described the incident as a “disturbing encounter,” noting that a male passenger allegedly flashed his middle finger as they fled.

“Similar to our active response to incidents reported by the public and those posted on social media, your LTO has already taken the initiative of looking into this viral video based on the report of our monitoring team. Clearly, there were violations committed and that included the behavior of the driver of the sports utility vehicle that put to danger the DOTr-SAICT enforcers who were only doing their job,” the LTO added.

The LTO said that it is now determining the identity of the owner of the SUV.

“Currently, we are coordinating with the DOTr-SAICT for more specific details of the white SUV that will lead to the identification of the registered owner. We assure the public that a show cause order will be issued to the registered owner and the driver of the SUV involved in the soonest possible time for them to explain the string of violations we already identified based on our existing laws and rules and regulations, including disregarding traffic signs and improper person to operate a motor vehicle,” it added.

At the same time, the LTO said that it is now coordinating with the Office of Senate President Chiz Escudero in submitting all the information that the agency will obtain from the investigation regarding the incident.

LTO officials noted that only two LTO plates are issued per vehicle, one for the front and one for the back. Senators have to request the LTO, which requires basic documents of the vehicles, including official receipts and certification of registration.

Escudero urged the LTO leadership to identify the owner-user of the vehicle and to inform the Senate as soon as possible.

The Senate President also commended Barnachea and Reyno for keeping their composure and remaining courteous notwithstanding the circumstances that they encountered. — Cecille Suerte Felipe