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LTFRB executive director Roberto Cabrera is new LTO chief


Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board Executive Director Roberto Cabrera will replace resigned Assistant Secretary Alfonso Tan Jr. as the new head of the Land Transportation Office (LTO), Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya confirmed Sunday.

In a text message, Abaya said Tan voluntarily resigned last November due to family reasons.

Tan had been at the LTO’s helm since 2013, replacing the late Virginia Torres. Torres retired from government service after a video surfaced showing her playing on a slot machine in a casino.

“I requested [Assistant Secretary Tan] to hold on until a new appointment is made by the President. The recommended replacement is Atty. Roberto Cabrera, the former  Executive Director of LTFRB,” he said.

Abaya said he is expecting to receive Cabrera’s appointment papers by Monday.

Cabrera, a graduate of the Ateneo Law School, assumed his post as LTFRB executive director the same year Tan was named to head the LTO.

The State of the Land Transportation Office

In a statement, Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares called for an investigation on the various allegations hounding the LTO.

He noted that in Sept. 2013, the Commission on Audit disallowed LTO’s payment to its previous driver’s license cards  supplier Amalgamated Motors Philippines Inc. (AMPI). Nearly two years later, in May 2015, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) awarded a new contract for the supply of 5 million driver’s license cards to Allcard Philippines Inc., which submitted the lowest bid of P336.87 million.

A Manila regional trial court, however, stopped the award and payment of the driver’s license card supply project to Allcard as there “appears to be no approved budget for the project.”

The COA has also ordered the LTO to stop the license plate deal with Dutch-Filipino consortium PPI-JKG Philippines Inc. for violating the procedures prescribed under Republic Act 9184, the Government Procurement Reform Act and its revised implementing rules and regulations.

Referring to the purported anomalies that occurred within the agency, Colmenares said, “Mauulit lang ang mga anomalyang ito kung di malalaman ang puno't dulo ng mga ito kaya mas mabuti na imbestigahan na.” —Xianne Arcangel/AT, GMA News

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