LTO employees to undergo mandatory retraining after viral Bohol incident

Land Transportation Office (LTO) employees across the country are set to undergo mandatory retraining, following the circulation of a video where enforcers were filmed being violent during an apprehension of a motorist in Panglao, Bohol.

According to LTO chief Atty. Vigor Mendoza II, the retraining — which will be in cooperation with the Philippine National Police (PNP) — will include the update of protocols, to ensure that a repeat of the recent incident does not happen.

“The incident that happened in Bohol calls for a deeper and systematic approach to ensure that this will not happen again in the future. So we will be holding retraining for LTO enforcers nationwide and it’s mandatory,” he said in a report on GMA”s “24 Oras Weekend” on Sunday.

This comes after a video circulated online, showing enforcers holding down a man who was lying on top of a motorcycle, and dragged him down to the ground. He was heard repeatedly clarifying that he is a farmer, hence the bolo in his possession.

The man, later identified to be an older brother of a former vice mayor of Panglao, Bohol, was arrested and detained at the custodial facility of the Panglao Police Station. The cause of his apprehension is still unknown.

GMA Integrated News is still trying to reach out to the regional director of the LTO for comment on the matter.

For its part, LTO Region 7 released a statement expressing regret over the incident, and stated that it occurred in the interest of safety and public law and order. — Jon VIktor Cabuenas/RF, GMA Integrated News