Department of Transportation (DoTr) Secretary Vince Dizon has ordered the immediate preventive suspension of all Land Transportation Office (LTO) personnel involved in the incident in Panglao, Bohol.
Dizon said it will remain in effect pending the completion of a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances surrounding the event.
LTO in Central Visayas is investigating the viral video involving several enforcers in Barangay Tawala, Panglao, Bohol.
A video that became viral, shows the men, dressed in blue uniform with the words LTO were seen seemingly putting down a motorcycle driver and threatening him with a knife.
Brian Velasco, the former Vice Mayor of Panglao, posted on social media that the man in the video is his brother Bert Velasco.
“LTO said that my brother was the one who called them but it is impossible because he was just sitting down on the motor,” Velasco said.
In a statement, LTO 7 Regional Director Glen Galorio said that they “regret the distressing nature of the incident and apologize for any concern it may have caused to the public.”
“The safety of both the public and our personnel remains a top priority, and we are committed to maintaining law and order.”
As a result of the incident, LTO 7 has suspended all law enforcement operations in Bohol Province and has withdrawn the field enforcement officers from the area pending a full investigation into the matter.
The individual involved in the incident is currently in police custody, and appropriate charges are being prepared.
In compliance with the instruction of Dizon, LTO chief, Assistant Secretary Atty. Vigor D. Mendoza directed on Saturday, 1 March the regional director of LTO Region 7 to issue a preventive suspension order against its enforcers in the viral video in Bohol.
Mendoza said the preventive suspension ordered by Secretary Dizon should take effect immediately and will remain effective until the thorough investigation is done.
“My instruction is to finish the investigation in the soonest possible time in order to ferret out the truth, determine if there was any lapses, and punish those who would be found liable,” Mendoza said.