LTO cancels bus driver’s license over smashed barriers

MANILA, Philippines – The Land Transportation Office (LTO) cancelled yesterday the license of a bus driver who crashed into a row of plastic barriers along EDSA. 

An order signed by LTO chief Roberto Cabrera stated that Roel Labin’s professional driver’s license has been suspended indefinitely. 

Cabrera said Labin was seen on a dashboard camera video driving recklessly on Tuesday, “in total disregard of land transportation laws and regulations and the safety of other motorists.”

In the video, which has gone viral, Labin was racing with another bus driver and the bus he was driving hit the plastic barriers, scattering them along the highway.

Jakes Duyangco, Joanna Jesh Transport Corp. operations manager, said in a television interview that Labin has been suspended for 30 days pending an internal investigation. He added that he will “most likely” fire Labin for reckless driving.

Labin surfaced at the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) yesterday.

Labin said he flunked the application for a professional driver’s license thrice, but that does not mean he does not know how to drive, according to a report on ABS-CBN.

He said he drove a 10-wheeler truck in Pangasinan for a year before applying at Joanna Jesh Transport.

Labin said he had no choice but to pull the bus towards the barriers, adding that the bus he was driving was full but no one got hurt.

Labin had been driving the bus for two weeks before the incident happened. Joanna Jesh Transport said its drivers undergo a week of apprenticeship, another week of driving test, and a day of seminar before getting hired.

Since the barriers are government property, Joanna Jesh will pay P35,000 for 10 barriers destroyed during the incident, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority said.