Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto on Tuesday reported that 12 traffic enforcers in the city were issued traffic violation tickets and had their vehicles impounded after they were caught driving without a license and using unregistered vehicles.
Of the 12, five had no license to drive a vehicle while seven were driving unregistered vehicles.
Sotto said they recently conducted a surprise inspection among the city’s traffic enforcers.
“Dati kasi walang nanghuhuli sa kanila (Before, no one bothered to check and arrest them),” Sotto told Manila Bulletin.
The mayor vowed that they would not tolerate impunity in their ranks.
“Kung nakagawian dati na exempted ang mga naka uniporme sa batas trapiko, babaguhin natin ‘yan ngayon (If men in uniform used to be exempted from traffic laws, we will change that now),” Sotto said in a Facebook post.
“Kung tutuusin, mas mataas nga dapat ang standards ng mga kawani ng pamahalaan (Strictly speaking, the standard should be higher for those working in government),” he added.
On Monday, July 6, Sotto reported that they have made “big progress” in strengthening the accountability of the local government to its people.
A year into his term, the 31-year-old mayor said more than 30 traffic enforcers accused of “kotong” (extortion) have been removed from their positions.
This is just some of Sotto’s sweeping reforms to root out corruption in the city government and hold erring employees accountable.