LTFRB whistleblower cited for contempt

Whistleblower Jeffrey Tumbado, the erstwhile executive assistant of now-suspended Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board chairman Teofilo Guadiz, whom he earlier accused of corruption, will be confined in the halls of Congress after he was cited in contempt.

During Monday's motu proprio of the House committee on transportation into alleged anomaly plaguing the agency, Sagip Partylist Rep. Rodante Marcoleta moved to cite Tumbado in contempt after earning the ire of the panel for providing inconsistent responses to queries posed by lawmakers.

"This is the hard part in this kind of hearing, Mr. Chair. You (Tumbado) know you're not consistent with your answers. Now you just said that you were not threatened, but in the sworn statement that you gave to the NBI, you said, 'I am worried about my safety and that of my family,'" Marcoleta said.

Contrary to his prior statement that he was "pressured" to recant his corruption allegations against his previous boss, Guadiz, Tumbado now asserts that he was not apprehensive about withdrawing his previous claims.

Tumbado admitted that he did not have enough evidence to substantiate his corruption claims against Guadiz, conceding that it was solely based on his "opinion."

Nevertheless, he remained resolute in asserting that systemic corruption permeates the entire agency.

"The corruption is there because I myself am approached by operators who want to speed up the processing of their papers. I no longer have direct knowledge of the chairman's corruption… There is indeed corruption in the LTFRB, not particularly chairman Guadiz," he said, pledging that he would submit the list of complainants to the committee.

The corrupt practices plaguing the LTFRB, according to Tumbado, involved the modification of routes, special permits, trafficking and substitutions.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. immediately suspended Guadiz, whom Tumbado said stood at the center of a "lagayan" or bribery system in the LTFRB after the issue made headlines.

Manila Rep. Benny Abante, previously claimed the bribery scheme has been in operation since 2009.

Before retracting his accusations, Tumbado also dragged Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista and no less than the Office of the President into the alleged corruption in the LTFRB.

Tumbado told lawmakers that he withdrew his claims against Guadiz due to his lack of firsthand evidence implicating the chairman in the purported corruption, contrary to his previous assertion that Guadiz regularly received as much as P5 million in exchange for the expeditious approval and release of special permits, franchises, and route modifications.

"I don't have direct evidence to prove that chairman Guadiz can be pinpointed in the allegations," he told the panel.

Antipolo Rep. Romeo Acop, chair of the panel, however, posits a firm conviction that Tumbado had a hand in his own accusations.

"For all intention purposes, you are included here. You're equally guilty if anyone is guilty in the LTFRB. You're there, so you're involved," Acop stressed.

Tumbado will be confined within the premises of Congress for a maximum of 10 days.