The Land Transportation Office (LTO) on Friday said it has issued a summons to the motorist who appeared to be proud of driving recklessly while drunk at Bonifacio Global City (BGC), the video of which went viral on social media.

LTO chief Assistant Secretary Atty. Vigor D. Mendoza II has expressed irritation after seeing the video of the driver and his companions appearing proud of violating traffic rules.

“This is irresponsible behavior that puts the lives of road users at risk. It’s fortunate that it didn’t lead to an accident,” Mendoza said. “We won’t tolerate such behavior on the roads. That’s why we issued a Show Cause Order against the vehicle’s owner and driver.”

In the SCO signed by LTO-Intelligence and Investigation Division head Renante Melitante, the registered owner and driver of the vehicle, a resident of Sta. Mesa Manila, were asked to appear before the LTO Central Office on 15 October.

The SCO also mandated the owner and driver to submit a written explanation as to why they should not be held liable for Reckless Driving (Section 48 of RA 4136), Driving While Under the Influence of Liquor or Narcotic Drug (Section 53 of RA 4136), and Improper Person to Operate a Motor Vehicle.

The maximum penalty for the offense is revocation of the driver’s license.

The investigation was in response to the viral video posted by a certain “Hombre Estu” entitled “drunk driving at BGC.” The incident happened on 23 September along 7th Avenue at Bonifacio High Street.

Melitante said the driver was driving recklessly towards the opposite direction of a one-way street and doing unsafe swerving maneuvers.

“Failure to appear and submit the written comment/explanation as required shall be construed by this Office as a waiver of your right to be heard, and the case shall be decided based on the evidence at hand. In the interim, your driver’s license and the subject motor vehicle are placed on alarm pending this investigation,” the SCO read.

In other developments, the LTO-National Capital Region (LTO-NCR) reported that its intensified campaign against traffic violators through its deputized personnel led to the apprehension of over 5,000 motorists in the third quarter of 2024.

LTO-NCR regional director Roque “Rox” I. Verzosa III revealed that 5,769 drivers were apprehended from July to September.

According to the latest data from the LTO-NCR-RLES TSU (Regional Law Enforcement Service Traffic Safety Unit) under the leadership of Hanzley Lim and Rocilyn Villaruel, of the 5,769 motorists apprehended, 2,451 were cited for violations of Republic Act (RA) 4136, or the Land Transportation and Traffic Code.

This includes 355 cases involving unregistered motor vehicles, in accordance with the “No Registration, No Travel” policy.

Verzosa further highlighted that the largest group of violators, totaling 888 motorists, were apprehended for driving vehicles with defective accessories, devices, equipment, or parts.