Owner of ‘road rage’ car fails to appear in LTO probe

Patrick. Bitoy (2nd from left), his lawyer Ronald Baquiano (L) talk with LTO chief Anita Pulga and LTO operations chief Joel T. Maloloy-on, as they wait for the registered owner of the Honda Civic allegedly involved in a road rage incident.
CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA

THE registered owner of the vehicle, which figured in an alleged road rage incident last week, did not show up at the investigation scheduled by the

Land Transportation Office (LTO-7) yesterday morning despite notice.

LTO Regional Director Alita Pulga said that they will send another subpoena to Leonardo Laya Jr., the registered owner of Honda Civic YKG 837.
“He (Laya) is the best person who can identify the driver involved,” Pulga told reporters.

LTO-7 sent the second subpoena to Laya yesterday with an address in Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay.

The next schedule of the investigation will be at 10 a.m., on Friday at the LTO-7 office.

“We have seen the incident on Facebook kinsa nag drive ato. But we need to get the name of the driver from the registered owner himself,” Pulga added.

(We have seen the incident on Facebook and who drove the car, but we need to get the name of the driver from the registered owner himself.)

FB Post

A certain Patrick Bitoy posted on his Facebook account last July 26, a video that he took of the Honda Civic that was in front of his car and was doing sudden stops.

According to Bitoy, at around 1:30 a.m. along Archbishop Reyes Street, the Honda Civic overtook his car and narrowly missed hitting him. In his annoyance, he honked his horn and put on his headlights at high, irritating the driver of the Honda Civic, who allegedly got out of his car bringing a baseball bat and threatened Bitoy.

The driver wore a white shirt, black shorts and a white watch.

Bitoy also claimed that the driver followed him as he drove home to Barangay Banawa.

“After the third subpoena and he will not show up, then our office will place his motor vehicle under alarm for him to come to the office and settle the problem,” Pulga added.

Once a vehicle is placed under alarm by the LTO-7, the registration of that particular vehicle cannot be renewed.

“He cannot renew his vehicle until this will not be resolved here,” she added.

Pulga said the registration of the YKG 837 vehicle expired yesterday, July 31.

If a driver is proven to have been involved in a road rage incident, he will face reckless driving and the risk of suspension or revocation of his license.

Disappointed

Bitoy accompanied by his lawyer Ronald Baquiano at the LTO yesterday expressed disappointment over the failure of Laya to appear.

“Disappointed, gusto nako mahuman na tanan para ma-resolve na tanang issue and hopefully naa sila inig ka Friday,” Bitoy told reporters.

(I was disappointed, I want to resolve all issues and hopefully they will appear on Friday.)

He said he will file a case against the driver of the Honda Civic as soon as he is identified.