Atty. Gomer J. Dy, regional director of Land Transportation Office Region XI (FILE PHOTO/davaotoday.com)
DAVAO CITY, Philippines — The Land Transportation Office Region 11 had earlier attempts at probing one of their drivers, however, none of them yielded results, an official of the LTO 11 said on Wednesday.
In a press conference, LTO 11 Regional Director Gomer Dy told reporters that they received reports of corruption around April or May of this year, which prompted them to conduct their own investigation.
When their attempts yielded no significant results, they sought the help of the police. When that failed too, they sought assistance to the National Bureau of Investigation.
Last week, NBI agents arrested driver Mamerto Tumpag, Jr. in an entrapment operation. Initial reports revealed that Tumpag had been the subject of several complaints of public utility van operators.
Tumpag had reportedly been asking for a “fee” ranging from P1,500 to P5,000 to bypass the standard registration process.
Tumpag had also been reportedly asking for a P200 pesos fee from drivers operating outside the Davao City Overland Transport Terminals.
Tumpag had reportedly been using Dy’s name in his transactions. However, Dy denied any knowledge of his employee’s activities, whom he said was his driver only during official office hours.
Dy reiterated that his office is cooperating with the investigation process, in accordance with President Rodrigo Duterte’s directive of “efficient and corruption-free government service.”
To this end, Dy announced that they are planning to subject their personnel to a two week seminar that will be a review of road regulations and observance of the anti-red tape act provisions.
“It would be very shameful for us na nandito ang hometown, the birthplace of our president tapos dito pa mangyari ‘yan, [at] nangyari nga” (If that happened here, which is the hometown of our president it would be very shameful. And it did), he said. (davaotoday.com)
