Ex-LTFRB aide Jeff Tumbado cited in contempt for failure to back corruption claims

A House committee on Monday cited former Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) employee Jeff Tumbado in contempt for his alleged failure to substantiate his corruption allegations against the agency.

Sagip party-list Representative Rodante Marcoleta, during the hearing of the House Committee on Transportation, made the motion to cite Tumbado in contempt after the latter repeatedly said he does not have personal knowledge on the alleged corruption involving suspended LTFRB chair Teofilo Guadiz III or any other LTFRB official.

"Opinyon ko lang po iyon (That's only my opinion)," Tumbado said, referring to his allegations of corruptions.

"I don't have direct evidence. Dahil lang po ito sa mga sumbong sa akin ng mga operators na sobrang taas ng hinihingi [na pera] para sa provisional authority [for a public transport route],” Tumbado added.

These statements irked Marcoleta, who said Tumbado should not be allowed to waste the lawmakers' time with such answers.

“Wala kaming panahon para sa iyo. Sinayang mo ang oras ng mga kongresista na nagpunta rito (We don't have time for you. You wasted our time)," Marcoleta said.

"We cannot rely on the answers of this resource person," he added.

House Committee on Transportation chairperson and Antipolo Representative Romeo Acop agreed with Marcoleta.

"I am hereby citing Mr. Tumbado in contempt and ordering him detained in this Congress for a maximum number of 10 days," Acop said.

Tumbado, who is Guadiz's former executive assistant, also apologized to Guadiz and Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista for making such corruption allegations. —KBK, GMA Integrated News