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[av_heading heading=’LTO-6 chief denies inaction on ‘anomaly’’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY MAE SINGUAY
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Thursday, April 13, 2017
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BACOLOD City – The Land Transportation Office (LTO) Region 6 director denied sitting on an internal report recommending the filing of charges against personnel allegedly engaged in tampering with temporary operator’s permits (TOPs).
Roland Ramos said he ordered further investigation that covers the entire LTO regional office.
Ramos, who assumed the directorship in January this year, stressed he cannot immediately decide on alleged infractions during the previous management.
Task Force Crusaders national deputy commander John Chiong asked the Office of the Ombudsman Visayas and the LTO national office to look into the issue.
In a series of investigations, the Regional Anti-Fixers Team (RAFT) led by chairman Atty. Gaudioso Geduspan II, LTO Legal Section chief, found that “the inks used by the members of the Regional Law Enforcement Team in preparing the TOPs are erasable inks that easily evaporate when heated.”
That Ramos sits on the findings of the RAFT gives way to more irregularities, Chiong claimed.
The investigations started with the Roxas District Office on Aug. 10, 2016 and covered various offices under the LTO Region 6. The last investigation, in the Himamaylan District Office, was conducted on Sept. 26. 2016.
The RAFT found several LTO personnel from Western Visayas and Negros Occidental “liable for administrative and criminal charges,” Chiong said.
Geduspan submitted to Ramos the RAFT’s findings, contained in a “Briefing Memorandum” dated Jan. 16, 2017. LTO Region 6 received the document on Jan. 27, 2017.
“It is [now] March 27, 2017, yet Ramos [has] not acted on the recommendations, obviously giving more chances for more irregularities and anomalies,” Chiong wrote the Ombudsman and the LTO national office.
Chiong’s claims were false, Ramos stressed.
In fact, upon receiving the report, he ordered the Regional Internal Audit Service (RIAS) to conduct further investigation, Ramos said.
He stressed that he needed to delve deeper into the issue before arriving at conclusions and making any decision.
The RIAS investigation that started in February covers all LTO personnel, not only the ones named in the RAFT report, said Ramos. He hopes the probe gets completed by July or August this year.
All LTO apprehending officers found to be behind the irregularity are “administratively liable for grave misconduct, abuse of authority and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service,” the RAFT said.
The investigating team also recommended the filing of criminal charges against them for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and the Anti-Red Tape Act./PN
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