DOTr fires LTO enforcers in motorist’s assault in Bohol
Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon has ordered on Monday the dismissal of five Land Transportation Office (LTO) personnel involved in manhandling a motorcycle-driving farmer in Panglao, Bohol province, last week.
“They are hereby dismissed immediately. We don’t need to prolong this issue further,” he said in a press conference at the LTO central office in Quezon City.
“This is without prejudice to future cases that may be filed depending on the outcome of further investigation,” he added.
According to Dizon, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) will not tolerate abuse of authority from personnel of any of its agencies.
“There is no justification for the violence that our law enforcers have shown,” he said.
A viral video caught Erifredo Velasco, 57, being manhandled by five Field Enforcement Officers of the LTO Central Visayas (LTO-7) after he was apprehended on Feb. 28 in Panglao.
During the almost 6-minute video, Velasco was seen being choked in the neck by the LTO enforcers as they forced to get him off his motorcycle.
The LTO enforcers found a bolo tucked behind his waist, but the rider could be heard repeatedly pleading that he was a farmer (“Farmer ko, sir”), the reason he was carrying the large knife.
According to DoTr Assistant Secretary for Road Transport Jojo Reyes, Velasco was hospitalized for suffering “back pain, neck pain, high blood pressure” and for also being “traumatized” after the incident.
Velasco is a brother of former Panglao Vice Mayor Brian Velasco. But the DoTr chief maintained that his order had nothing to do with his familial relations. “It does not matter whoever is the victim. He is our kababayan (fellow countryman), a Filipino citizen.”
‘Sweeping review’
Dizon also ordered the creation of a task force, which will be led by Reyes, to conduct a “sweeping review” of all policies and regulations on the apprehension of motorcycle riders of enforcers of the LTO and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB).
“We need to review and revise if necessary the current regulations, because these may be the source of the abusive behavior of our enforcers,” he said.
“We want to understand if the current policies are actually providing opportunities for abuse. Maybe the current policies are not clear or these are giving too much discretion to our enforcers,” Dizon explained.
The current review of policies would not mean the suspension of the enforcement operations of LTO and LTFRB, stressed Dizon, even as he called on enforcers to “learn from the incident.”
