A crackdown on corruption in the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has allegedly forced 8 regional directors and 53 employees of the agency across the country to leave their posts.
LTFRB board member Atty. Aileen Lizada said 53 employees nationwide have either resigned, retired, or were suspended from work following the agency’s internal audit.
Four regional directors have also resigned, two have retired, one was suspended and another one is under investigation for corruption allegations, Lizada said.
“We have discovered how corruption is done at LTFRB,” Lizada said in the Monday episode of ANC’s “Talkback.”
She said fake decisions on franchises were issued.
“We had to do internal cleansing of the LTFRB,” Lizada added.
According to Lizada, only the province of Cebu did not exceed the required number of franchises.
She alleged that erring regional directors brought in fixers who had contacts with vehicle operators for fake decisions on franchises despite a moratorium.
“The fixer that the regional director brings, connects with the operators outside, those who are willing to pay and cough up huge amounts,” she said.
Bus operators paid P300,000 to P500,000 for fake franchises, UV vehicles paid around P200,000, and taxi operators paid P60,000 according to Lizada.
“Technically, they are all colorum because they were issued without any authority but we’re talking of hundreds and thousands nationwide,” she said, citing Davao City as an example of an area that exceeded franchises.
Meanwhile, LTO chief Edgar Galvante said although they apprehend public utility vehicles with illegal franchises, their agency is having difficulty implementing the law. [source]
“As much as possible, we don’t want to stop buses or jeepneys that have passengers already because we also don’t want to burden the riders,” he said.