Executive withholding DOJ resolution clearing LTO chief in car theft case?

MANILA, Philippines -  Has the Department of Justice (DOJ) cleared Land Transportation Office (LTO) chief Virginia Torres in a two-year-old case involving an allegedly illegal registration of a vehicle?

The DOJ already has a resolution clearing Torres in a complaint filed by the Philippine National Police’s Highway Patrol Group over the questionable registration of a Mitsubishi Pajero in Tarlac City in 2009, but has withheld its release, according to an insider.

The STAR learned the investigating prosecutor has “recommended the dismissal of charges of falsification of document under Article 171 of Revised Penal Code” following findings of an inter-agency panel clearing Torres in the case.

Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo earlier said the Pajero registration Torres signed was just a renewal and that the car had already been registered three times before. He said Torres was not at fault because she was unaware the vehicle was stolen.

DOJ Secretary Leila de Lima confirmed that there was already a draft of the resolution. In an interview last Mar. 8, she said the resolution would be released in a few days.

However, sources said the case folder has not yet been released and was purportedly taken by Undersecretary Francisco Baraan III to his office. Baraan denied the allegation and said he was never involved in the case.

Baraan earlier chaired the DOJ probe panel that looked into the failed takeover of the LTO’s information technology systems contractor Stradcom Corp. on Dec. 9, 2010 and recommended the initiation of administrative action against Torres for allegedly supporting the supposedly illegal takeover.

Torres had sought the inhibition of Baraan, citing his link to businessman Cezar Quiambao, who heads one of the warring factions in Stradcom. Baraan, a former board member of Pangasinan province, is a brother of incumbent provincial administrator Rafael Baraan while Quiambao is a cousin of provincial assessor Nestor Quiambao and number one contributor in the campaign of Gov. Amado Espino in last year’s polls.

Baraan earlier denied the charges and said he met the businessman for the first time during the DOJ probe hearings earlier this year.