2 LTO employees, security guard fired for soliciting bribes

Land Transportation Office (LTO) chief Assistant Secretary Markus Lacanilao has ordered the dismissal and filing of appropriate charges against two of the agency's employees along with a security guard following complaints from public utility jeepney drivers and operators.

In a statement, Lacanilao said the complainants, who personally visited his office on December 5, had their vehicles impounded for committing various traffic infractions, which required that they attend seminars, with corresponding examinations, in the LTO's Traffic Safety Division so that their public utility jeepneys would be released to them.

However, the LTO chief stated that the two employees allegedly informed public utility jeepney drivers and operators that they could forgo the required seminars and pass their examinations in exchange for P1,000 each.

Lacanilao said the complainants positively identified the erring personnel, and he immediately ordered the agency's Intelligence and Investigation Division to investigate and file appropriate charges. 

"Why are you so brazen in doing this? You know when I was appointed LTO chief, I had a seven-point program [against corruption]. Now, you are fired from the LTO, and you will be charged criminally for this," Lacanilao said.

"We are reforming and changing the image of the agency, and yet you people still persist in your illegal activities," he added.

Earlier, the LTO chief vowed to crack down on employees and officials behind irregularities and "horrific scams" that are fleecing the public. — VBL, GMA Integrated News