Grease factory
Asked to name the most corrupt agencies in government, former President Rodrigo Duterte pointed to the Land Transportation Office (LTO) as among those on the top of the list.
Here’s why:
A top regional official of the LTO based in Central Luzon is reportedly raking in millions of pesos monthly in “tong collections.”
This was disclosed over the weekend to Scuttlebutt by a number of chiefs of various districts of LTO in the region who sought assistance to expose what they called the “mother of all corruption” in LTO in Central Luzon.
The chiefs of districts appealed not to expose their identities for fear of being “liquidated and reprisal” knowing this top official is so tough that he is “capable to kill” and has “strong connections” in the military and police.
According to the complainants, the modus operandi of this top LTO official is that he is imposing a weekly “collection” to all the chiefs of LTO in the region.
They told this writer that one district chief alone is required to produce P800,000 weekly or a total of P3.2 million for a month. “It will reach more than P5 million a week from LTO regional chiefs alone, he also collects from insurance companies, drug laboratory, smoke emission facilities,” said the source.
The amount being remitted to this top LTO official depends, however, on the district.
“If the branch is found in an inconspicuous area, it is understood that the payout is small but it still runs in tens of thousands of pesos weekly,” the insider revealed.
“The whole amount being asked for by this crooked LTO official remains constant weekly come hell or high water.”
“Recently, there were only two days of work because of the typhoon but the amount or “rata” remains the same,” a bagman of one of the branches said. He added “I can’t sleep thinking how to raise the amount that he was asking.”
They said that if you failed to “remit” the money being required by this LTO official “you will definitely sack or be placed in a “freezer or floating status”, an indication of his strong top-level connections.
There are 36 LTO district offices in Central Luzon, according to the snitch.
Transportation Secretary Jaime J. Bautista and LTO chief, Assistant Secretary Vigor D. Mendoza are being urged to look into this rotten practice before it brings down the whole agency with it.
Rocking around LRT
Next month, phase I of the Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT-1) extension project will be operational the Department of Transportation (DoTr) announced.
With this, the question arises: “What will now happen to the proposal of a tycoon to take over the next two phases of the Cavite leg?”
Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said the first five stations of the extension will open next week, specifically on 16 November 2024, which is perfect for the upcoming holidays.
This first phase of the LRT-1 Cavite Extension includes stops in Redemptorist-Aseana, MIA Road, PITX, Ninoy Aquino, and Dr. Santos. It stretches the LRT-1 line from Baclaran.
The second phase of the project will traverse Las Piñas and the third ends in Bacoor, Cavite.
The Light Rail Manila Corp. (LRMC) broke ground for the 11.7-kilometer LRT1 Cavite Extension in May 2019, while physical construction began on 29 September 2019.
The project has been delayed several times due to right-of-way issues and the Covid-19 pandemic.
LRMC is a partnership between Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) and Ayala Corp.
The Villar family’s Prime Asset Ventures Inc. has proposed to take over the next phase of the LRT-1 extension project by adding seven stations beyond the five stations that is being developed.
In August last year, the tycoon told reporters that his team had submitted a proposal to the DoTr to take over the rail’s Cavite extension project.
He claimed that the LRMC consortium currently handling the project was planning to drop plans to run the railway all the way up to Cavite and that he had already submitted an unsolicited proposal.
“I will continue the LRT,” the tycoon vowed.
Until today, LRMC has refused to comment on the proposal since if it pulls through, the Cavite leg is sold to the tycoon’s group.
LRT-1 operator LRMC is working on building the remaining segments of the Cavite line, scheduled to be completed during the Marcos administration.
The DoTr previously said that they had finished more than 80 percent of the right-of-way acquisitions for segments 2 and 3 of the railway’s Cavite extension. This covers stations planned for Las Piñas, Zapote and Niog.
The plan to sell the 35 percent stake in LRMC to the tycoon is reportedly facing a major obstacle from MPIC.