In a memorandum sent last Friday, Alvarez instructed LTO regional director Moises Almuete to submit documents to show that the P15,000 monthly "quota" represented legal collections from motorists.
Almuete has refused to talk to local reporters despite the flak he has been getting from radio commentators here following the exposé of Ernesto Fernandez, district officer of LTO-Roxas (Isabela).
Fernandez accused Almuete of requiring LTO district offices in the region’s five provinces — Isabela, Cagayan, Nueva Vizcaya, Batanes and Quirino — to remit a monthly "quota" of P15,000, thus forcing the agency’s "flying squads" to extort money from motorists.
Some district officers, however, claimed that the "quota" was only a revenue target and not "quotong" as Fernandez alleged it to be.
But besides the monthly "quota," Fernandez claimed that district officers were also asked to "donate" one sack of rice each to the regional director’s office.
"Kasali ba pati bigas sa revenue target (Is the one sack of rice included in the revenue target)?" asked Fernandez.
As a result of the exposé, the activities of the LTO flying squads have been temporarily suspended, according to one of Almuete’s subordinates who refused to be identified.
A group of bus operators in Cagayan and Isabela hailed Fernandez’s exposé, and suggested that the flying squads be disbanded to protect motorists from abusive LTO personnel.
Meanwhile, a group of LTO personnel, calling themselves the "Prejudiced LTO Employees," asked Alvarez to investigate a member of a flying squad who, they claimed, was the "bagman" in the monthly "quota" system.
The STAR learned that Almuete had relieved Fernandez as district officer of LTO-San Isidro (Isabela) and transferred him to Roxas after he (Fernandez) suspended the flying squad member due to alleged extortion.
"This (Fernandez’s relief) is what really triggered Fernandez to expose Almuete’s ‘quota’ system," claimed an LTO district officer, who requested anonymity, adding the monthly quota "is for real."