LTFRB-7 chief shows why bribe claim is untrue

CDN FILE

DIRECTOR Ahmed Cuizon of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board in Central Visayas (LTFRB-7) is letting his achievements speak for himself as he denied allegations of corruption from Senator Antonio Trillanes during last Thursday’s Senate Blue Ribbon committee hearing tackling the smuggling of P6.4 billion worth of illegal drugs from China into the country.

Trillanes tagged Cuizon, together with lawyer Manases “Mans” Carpio, for allegedly asking a bribe from officials of Uber so that the transportation network service can obtain their franchise and start operating in Region 7.

Paolo Duterte, son of President Rodrigo Duterte, and Carpio, Paolo’s brother-in-law, attended the Senate hearing, where Trillanes accused them of being the alleged mastermind of the illegal drug shipment – allegations that both Paolo and Carpio called “baseless” or “based on hearsay.”

Cuizon, for his part, also denied the bribe allegations against him through a status he posted on his Facebook account on Friday.

“I hate to sound like I’m lifting my own bench, but I am the only LTFRB Regional Director (RD) from the old set of RDs who has not been replaced or transferred to another region. In fact, up until recently, I was even assigned as officer-in-charge of LTFRB in Region 8 in a concurrent capacity. These would not have happened if I were involved in illegal activities,” Cuizon said.

“Moreover, when I was on an out-of-town leave last month, LTFRB Chairman Martin Delgra III visited Cebu and held closed-door talks with Uber officials and operators. That would have been the best venue for complaints like this to surface. But nothing of that sort came up,” he said.