Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Jaime Bautista is facing a graft complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman for a planned franchise revocation of public utility vehicles that would fail to consolidate beyond the April 31 deadline.
The transport group Manibela also included Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board chief Teofilo Guadiz III; LTFRB board members Liza Marie Paches, Mercy Jane Paras Leynes and Robert Peig; Office of Transport Cooperatives chairperson Ferdinand Ortega and Solicitor General Menardo Guevara in the complaint that it filed.
Mar Valbuena, Manibela president, accused the involved public officials of violation of Republic Act No. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
“Neither did the DOTr and LTFRB conduct any consultation among the affected sectors, especially the PUV drivers and operators like the members of complainant Manibela and the undersigned complainant,” he said.
He urged the Ombudsman to place the transport officials under preventive suspension.
He said the Solicitor General was implicated for defending the implementation of the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program and the three other officials in an injunction petition filed by the Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Operator Nationwide with the Supreme Court.
Manibela members held a protest outside the Ombudsman’s office during the filing of the complaint.
