Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Thursday, November 7, neither confirmed nor denied the allegation that the white sports utility vehicle (SUV) with protocol plate number "7" that used the EDSA bus lane was owned by a relative.
Gatchalian said is just leaving the investigation to the Land Transportation Office (LTO).
“Kahapon nanood ako ng news, nakita ko 'yung representative ng company may statement na tapos nakita ko rin na nagbayad na ng fine, so iwan na lang natin sa LTO kung ano 'yung kanilang desisyon at 'yung kanilang gagawin (I watched the news yesterday and I saw that that a representative of the company has issued a statement, I and I also heard that a fine has been paid, so let’s just leave it to the LTO on what they will do and what their decision is)," Gatchalian said in an ambush interview.
“Andun na sa LTO 'yung mga documents so iwan na lang natin sa LTO (The documents are with the LTO so let’s leave it to the LTO),” the senator added when asked if the SUV was indeed owned by his brother.
“Mahirap namang magcomment habang nag-iimbestiga sila. The LTO naman ay on (It’s hard to comment while they are still investigating. The LTO is on) top of the situation,” he added.
The LTO earlier said the number “7” protocol plate on the said SUV was fake, but the SUV driver surrendered himself to authorities last Wednesday and took responsibility of the incident.
Authorities identified the driver as Angelito Edpan, 52 and an employee of Orient Pacific Corporation which owns the SUV.
The senator’s brother, Kenneth Gatchalian, is reported to be the president of Orient Pacific Corporation.