REACTING to an announcement of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima that it is up to President Aquino to decide the fate of embattled Land Transportation Office ( LTO ) chief on leave Virginia Torres, a jeepney group leader on Sunday slammed the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) inaction and, at the same time, urged Mr. Aquino not to reinstate Torres and save the administration from further embarrassment.
Zenaida Maranan, Federation of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines (Fejodap) president, said the DOJ should sanction Torres and not use the flimsy excuse that Torres is not within the DOJ jurisdiction because she is a presidential appointee, and only the President can decide her fate.
“Torres may be a presidential appointee but she was chosen from career LTO personnel and did not resign her government post. Therefore, she is subject to normal government administrative procedures. This kind of preferential treatment sends a wrong signal to the transport-sector stakeholders,” Maranan stressed.
Torres is reported a long-time friend and firing- range buddy of the President.
Maranan also questioned statements from Malacañang that Torres has already been sanctioned by the President with a 60-day leave of absence.
Department of Transportation and Communications officials, however, disputed the Palace claim.
Transportation Undersecretary Raquel Desiderio, who was named LTO officer in charge when Torres took a leave of absence, said Torres cannot return to the the LTO because Malacañang did not investigate her supposed complicity and gross negligence in the attempted takeover of the Stradcom Corp. facilities inside the LTO compound last December.
The departments of Transportation and Communications and of Justice recommended that Torres be investigated for allegedly siding with the Stradcom faction that attempted to take over the facilities, which resulted in the disruption of LTO services for almost a day on December 9, 2010.
Stradcom is the computer-srvice provider of the LTO.
Justice department insiders intimated that the pronouncement of their boss that only the President can sanction Torres has fueled speculations that de Lima is being pressured by the President to go slow on Torres.
Maranan also urged Mr. Aquino and incoming Transportation Secretary Mar Roxas II “not to bring back Torres to the LTO, since she caused the controversy that may lead to a total shutdown of the LTO system, which is totally unacceptable to the transport group, as a manual system would erase all the gains of the LTO made over the years with regard to colorum and out-of-line public-utility vehicles.”
(Jojo Perez)
