Another MTPB exec shot dead in Tondo

MANILA, Philippines — Another official of the Manila Traffic and Parking Bureau (MTPB) was shot dead by an unidentified assailant during a clearing operation at the Parola Compound in Tondo yesterday.

Ruben Pangindian, District 1 team leader of the MTPB, died at the scene.

MTPB operations chief Dennis Ibona said the motive for the killing could be work-related and perpetrated by a group affected by the bureau’s anti-illegal parking drive.

Pangindian is the third MTPB employee killed since last year.

Last April, Tranquilino Vuelga, officer-in-charge of the MTPB Task Force Parola, was gunned down in the bureau’s satellite office in Binondo.

Another MTPB employee, Arnel Celis, was killed in front of his house in Tondo by motorcycle-riding assailants in October last year.

MTPB chief Dennis Alcoreza said the suspects in the killing of Vuelga and Celis were former employees of the Manila Tricycle Regulatory Office, who were sacked for collecting grease money from tricycle operators and drivers.