Manila solon calls for House probe on LTFRB corruption claims
At A Glance
- Manila 6th District Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. wants to get to the bottom of the allegations of corruption at the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), which has led to the preventive suspension of agency Chairman Teofilo Guadiz III.
Manila 6th district Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. (Facebook)
Manila 6th District Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. wants to get to the bottom of the allegations of corruption at the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), which has led to the preventive suspension of agency Chairman Teofilo Guadiz III.
Abante has filed House Resolution (HR) No.1381, which urged the Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability to conduct an investigation, in aid of legislation, into graft allegations involving the LTFRB in connection with the implementation of Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP).
The veteran lawmaker sought the House probe despite the reported recantation of the whistleblower in the case.
"While the whistleblower has recanted his initial statements accusing Atty. Guadiz and other officials of corruption, he maintains that there are still problems in the LTFRB that merit an immediate inquiry," Abante said in a statement Friday, Oct. 13.
"What are these problems? How do LTFRB officials exploit the agency's regulatory functions to extort millions from transport companies and groups? Who are these officials? These are just a few of the questions we want answers to," he said.
Abante, a member of the House Committee on Transportation, added that he would also support the move of transportation panel chairperson and Antipolo 2nd district Rep. Romeo Acop to pursue an investigation into allegations of graft in the LTFRB.
The resolution also calls for the suspension of the PUVMP pending the results of the investigation.
According to Abante, suspending the PUVMP while the inquiry is ongoing "will benefit the program as it will allow us to identify ways to insulate it and other LTFRB processes from graft".