Several groups from the shipping industry have thrown their support behind Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Jaime Bautista in his bid to protect his integrity amid allegations of corruption in the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB).
The statement of support came after a former employee of the LTFRB claimed that there was corruption in the agency, especially in securing a franchises for modern jeepneys.
The ex-LTFRB employee, however, recanted his statement and apologized to Bautista and suspended LTFRB chairman Teofilo Guadiz III.
Bautista, on the other hand, has already filed criminal charges against those whom he described as responsible for the attempt to malign him.
In the statement, the groups said they were “standing solidly behind Secretary Bautista and support him in whatever he plans to do to protect his name, and in all his efforts to continue serving not only the maritime industry but the whole country.”
“We find it absurd that Secretary Bautista would be implicated in allegations of corruption in the LTFRB by a so-called whistleblower who has not offered any tangible, hard and incontrovertible proof to substantiate his claim,” the maritime stakeholders said.
They noted that Bautista was “being made a victim of trumped-up charges to derail his plans to transform the maritime industry into a highly competitive sector vis-à-vis its global counterparts.”
Those who signed the statement were Supply Chain Management Association of the Philippines (SCMAP) President Dennis Llovido, Philippine Multimodal Transport and Logistics Association, Inc. (PMTLAI) President Fernando Juan Perez, United Portusers Confederation of the Philippines, Inc. (UPC) President Nelson Mendoza, Alliance of Concerned Truck Owners and Organizations (ACTOO) Director Connie Tinio, Association of Container Yard Operators of the Philippines (ACYOP) Chairman Roger C. Lalu, Association of International Shipping Lines, Inc. (AISL) President Patrick Ronas, Philippine Liner Shipping Association (PLSA) President Mark Matthew F. Parco, and Philippine Ships’ Agents Association (PSAA) President Joselito Ilagan.
The groups said that in just 15 months in office, Bautista “proved equal to the gargantuan, but much-awaited task of modernizing and streamlining our country’s maritime sector to advance national security and economic growth in this increasingly globalized world.”
“(Bautista) has the vision, courage, strength, prudence, and integrity to be our partner in forging a stronger maritime transportation system that would ensure safety, security, and environmental sustainability through the efficient use of our navigable waterways and proper management of our ports,” they said.
And just as the maritime stakeholders showed renewed support for Bautista, they, too, asked President Marcos to continue to have trust and confidence in the DOTr chief.
“President Marcos needs a man of his stature. Secretary Bautista is one of the rare breed of government officials, who possesses the qualities required to move our small archipelagic nation forward,” the stakeholders said.