Transport groups don't want Torres back at LTO

MANILA, Philippines - Public transport groups called on Malacanang yesterday to stop the return of Land Transportation Office chief Virginia Torres, saying her comeback could worsen the situation at the LTO.

Alliance of Concerned Transport Organizations (ACTO) president Efren de Luna and Federation of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Organizations of the Philippines (FEJODAP) president Zenaida Maranan said the Palace has not acted on a recommendation by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to file administrative charges against Torres for her role in the illegal failed takeover of the operations center of LTO information technology provider Stradcom Corp. in December 2010. The incident disrupted LTO operations for several hours.

Maranan questioned a statement issued by Malacañang that the 60-day leave of absence Torres was made to take last April was already adequate punishment, considering the DOJ’s recommendation that she be administratively charged with “gross neglect of duty, or gross incompetence, or in the alternative, with grave misconduct” last March after the conduct of a fact-finding investigation on the illegal takeover.

Torres’ 60-day leave of absence is expected to lapse on June 19.

Maranan said Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) officials earlier admitted that no charges have been filed yet.

DOTC officials said Malacanang failed to provide legal assistance for the conduct of a proper joint investigation by the DOTC and Malacañang, which would then decide the administrative charges that would be filed against Torres as well as her head executive assistant, Menelia Mortel.

The DOJ fact-finding committee, in their 30-page report issued in March, recommended that Torres “be asked to explain why she should not be so charged and dismissed from the service or otherwise administratively disciplined.”

Upon filing of the administrative charges, the committee said Torres should be asked to take an indefinite leave of absence or be suspended.

“The preventive suspension is intended to prevent her from using her position or office to influence prospective witnesses or tampering with the records which may be vital in the prosecution of the case against her,” the committee said.

De Luna and Maranan said Torres is reportedly expected to refuse to pay Stradcom’s share of the computer fees paid the LTO stipulated in its 1998 build-operate-own contract with the government.

Maranan warned that a shutdown of the LTO computer system maintained by Stradcom would be disastrous to motorists doing business with the LTO, especially to more than 300,000 public utility bus, jeepney and taxi drivers and operators all over the country.