‘Abusive’ DPWH official’s driver’s license suspended

The Land Transportation Office (LTO) on Friday suspended the driver’s license of a Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) official for allegedly abusing a security guard at a private subdivision.

LTO chief Assistant Secretary Vigor D. Mendoza II said a show cause order was issued to the official, a lawyer who was previously fired by former DoTr secretary and current DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon.

“We already placed his driver’s license under 90-day preventive suspension, or until such time that the investigation into this case is done,” Mendoza said, adding that the action aligns with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s directive for government workers to act as public servants.

The official was also ordered to surrender his driver’s license before a scheduled hearing on 23 September.

According to a complaint from a security guard, the DPWH official cursed at him after being denied entry to a subdivision on 9 August. The official left but later returned with police and had the security guard arrested.

The show cause order, signed by LTO Intelligence and Investigation Division chief Renante Melitante, asks the official to explain why his driver’s license should not be revoked for being an “improper person to operate a motor vehicle.”