3 MMDA workers nabbed for fuel theft

MANILA, Philippines - Three employees of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) were arrested in Mandaluyong City yesterday for allegedly selling diesel from their mechanical sweeper truck to jeepney drivers.

Six plastic bottles full of diesel worth P1,174 were confiscated from Roderick Gutang, 38; Luis Bitangcol, 33; and John Tuplado, 28, all of the MMDA Parkway and Clearing Operations Group, said city police chief Senior Superintendent Florendo Quibuyen.

It was the second time the three men were arrested in the city for selling stolen fuel.

Last December, members of the city police’s anti-vice unit arrested the three MMDA workers for the same offense but they were pardoned after they promised not to return to their illegal activities, Quibuyen said.

The three men were caught waking up jeepney drivers at a terminal along Reliance street in Barangay Highway Hills to sell them the stolen fuel at around 2 a.m., according to Quibuyen.

They tried to ask forgiveness again but this time, the police officers sought the help of MMDA operations officer Danilo Espiritu in filing charges against the suspects.

Francis Martinez, head of the MMDA’s Parkway and Clearing Operations Group, said the arrest of the three employees should serve as an example to others.

He clarified that the suspects are not traffic enforcers – Gutang is a driver while Tuplado and Bitangcol are laborers.

MMDA assistant general manager for operations Emerson Carlos said they will try to find out if Gutang, Bitangcol and Tuplado have accomplices in the agency.

“If they are job order workers, they will be terminated. If they are regular employees, they will have to undergo due process before they could be removed,” he said.

Carlos said the MMDA will also be checking other vehicles of the agency to see if there have been other incidents of fuel theft.