The Land Transportation Office (LTO) has apprehended five suspected fixers in a district office, with its chief calling on the public to stop “patronizing the services of fixers” and emphasized that “it would be better to immediately report their illegal activities instead.”
According to LTO Chief Jay Art Tugade, the joint initiative with the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) arrested five suspects outside the LTO Novaliches District Office in Quezon City.
“There are people who pay fixers P10,500 for a student permit and yet they are not trained and educated enough on basic transport laws. This is a hazard for the public and these kinds of shortcuts may lead to accidents. We have to stop this practice,” Tugade said.
Earlier, the alleged fixers were caught in the act while making transactions with operatives who posed as individuals applying for student permits.
After the arrest of the alleged fixers, Tugade immediately went to the head of the LTO Novaliches District and warned the latter of his liability for the proliferation of “fixers” outside his office.
Tugade also stressed that the head of the LTO Novaliches District Office may face not only administrative but also criminal liabilities if he is proven to be connected to the “fixers” operating outside his office.
“Aside from administrative liabilities, there are criminal liabilities that the district office may face if found guilty,” he said. “I will hold people accountable.”
Tugade also assured that measures to fully digitalize the agency and its services, which he instituted since he assumed office, are continuously being implemented—the goal of which is to make the transaction of services more efficient and more convenient for the public.
“The digitalization of the LTO is one of the initiatives that we are implementing to stop corruption and this despicable practice of fixers. We also believe that this will provide greater convenience to the motoring public when they transact with the agency,” Tugade said.