Bohol is not exempt from traffic, road regulations — LTO-7 chief

LTO-7 Director Victor Caindec says that the apprehensions in Bohol province of erring motor vehicles are done after the LTO-7 received a formal complaint. | screen grab from LTO-7 Caindec’s press briefing

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Land Transportation Office in Central Visayas (LTO-7) Regional Director Victor Caindec finally addressed the backlash he received over the recent rise of apprehensions on erring motor vehicles in Bohol Province, saying that the apprehensions were conducted because of an official complaint.

“I am infamous in Bohol, suko sila ngano gidakop sila. Nganong gidakop? Kay walay mga rehistro, wala daw silay ikabayad kay pandemya. Is that an excuse? Nadakpan sila kay nagdrive silag motor nga walay rehistro. Is that an excuse? Sila suko sila kay nadakpan sila nga way lisinya. Is that an excuse? They want us to suspend the law simply because they are from that place,” said Caindec.

(I am infamous in Bohol, they are angry why we apprehended them. Why did we apprehend them? Because they have no registration, they could not pay (for the registration) because of the pandemic. Is that an excuse? They were apprehended because they were driving a motorcycle without a registration. Is that an excuse? They are angry because they were apprehended because they did not have any license. Is that an excuse? They want us to suspend the law simply because they are from that place.)

The regional director said that there had been a legitimate complaint from the Presidential Action Center or 8888 hotlines addressing the concern to the LTO-7 and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board in Central Visayas (LTFRB-7) that in Bohol no apprehensions were being made to erring vehicles.

The complaint alleged that because Caindec had a daughter-in-law running in Panglao, the LTO-7 had refrained from apprehending in the province.

Caindec admitted that his daughter-in-law ran for councilor in Panglao town in last week’s elections, but denied that the apprehensions were related to this in any way.

“On May 4, we received a complaint from the Presidential Complaint Center, endorsed also by LTFRB complaining why LTO is not apprehending colorums etcetera in Bohol. So we had to take action. We created a task force. Now,  a very senior local official called ngano daw nanakop mi nga pandemya? (Why are we apprehending when its the pandemic?)

“Kung di mi manakop, masuko. Kung manakop mi, masuko. Unsa man among buhaton? Aw manakop na lang ko para silay masuko. Wala mi mabuhat. If we don’t enforce the law, how is it fair to somebody who went through the process of securing a license? Nisunod siya sa klaro nga balaod sa dalan.” said the director.

(If we will not apprehend, they get angry. If we will apprehend, they get angry. What will we do? So we will just apprehend so that they will get angry. We cannot do anything about that. If we don’t enforce the law, how is it fair to somebody who went through the process of securing a license? He followed the proper way of the law of the road.)

The director clarified that the recent apprehensions were simply the LTO-7 doing its job as requested by the presidential agency itself.

Allegations of corruption

Recently, a viral video of a woman in Bohol berating Caindec went viral after her motorcycle was apprehended for a lack of registration.

She claimed that Caindec had been allegedly collecting P500 per unit for the registration as a “reliable source” had told her.

Caindec said that he was considering filing charges against the woman for making the allegations, and they had conducted an investigation as to where the information had been coming from.

“People are entitled to embarrass themselves across the entire world for their own stupidity, I will not stop them. That, particular to the statement of that person, I had my lawyer transcribe the conversation, we are looking for some legal actions there,” he said.

He denied the allegations, saying that the fees for the registration were paid through the LTO-7 offices, not through Caindec. He also denied knowing the woman personally.

A notice has been issued to the dealer where the woman allegedly bought her motorcycle as Caindec has suspicions that these allegations have come from the dealer.

The dealer is asked to issue an affidavit explaining if any of the staff told the woman of the so-called arrangement and where the information came from.

If the information came from an LTO employee or official, Caindec said this person would be investigated as well.

Upon investigation, Caindec also said that the woman’s motorcycle, although purchased on April 28, 2022, was only registered on May 16, 2022, when the motorcycle dealer finally submitted all necessary requirement and payments for the registration.

Caindec said this was what the agency believes as the reason that the motorcycle had been going around even if it had no registry papers yet.

However, Caindec noted this was not the fault of LTO-7 because it was the dealer who completed the requirements on the said date — the delay was not caused by the agency itself.

The director said that if the woman was so sure of her allegations, the only way for it to prosper would be that she would file a case against him, and he would answer the allegations in court.

He said that until then, her allegations would simply be just that.

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/dbs