Officials and employees of the Land Transportation Office, or LTO, along with leaders of transport groups and stakeholders lauded what they described as a fruitful six months of reforms at the agency.

In various meetings and engagements presided over by LTO Chief Assistant Secretary Vigor Mendoza II, the groups were all praises for the official, particularly mentioning the gradual rebuilding of the reputation of the LTO in the eyes of the public.

According to them, this is the first time the LTO is hitting a series of headlines and write-ups for good reason, particularly on the tough stand of Mendoza against road rage and in actively pursuing changes in terms of the regular conduct of roadworthiness inspections of public land transportation vehicles.

Sanctions mooted

They were referring to the quick issuance of show cause orders, or SCOs, and imposition of sanctions on erring motorists not only for road rage incidents but also for fatal accidents in the past six months, notable among them, the case of a former policeman who pulled a gun on a bicyclist.

Such actions resulted in regaining the trust and confidence of the people who are now even more empowered in calling out erring motorists as they recognized the quick action of the LTO.

The praises for the LTO came amid attempts by some groups and individuals to return to the bad old days of the agency in support of their agenda.

One of them was a case filed against Mendoza before the Office of the Ombudsman which he shrugged off and described as harassment — but he vowed to answer the issues raised for the sake of fighting for the integrity of every man and woman of the LTO.