EDITORIAL – Corruption in the LTFRB

Despite an increase in the jeepney minimum fare, transport group Manibela announced yesterday it would stage a nationwide strike beginning Oct. 16, not over fares or high fuel prices, but over the planned phaseout of jeepneys by yearend.

The group also called attention to another problem. Joining Manibela members at their press conference, Jeffrey Tumbado, former head executive assistant of Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board Chairman Teofilo Guadiz III, hurled allegations of corruption in the LTFRB.

Tumbado claimed P5 million had to be paid to the LTFRB for a franchise or route modification, with the money going “up to the DOTr” – referring to the Department of Transportation – and could reach Malacañang. Tumbado also alleged that LTFRB regional directors also have a “quota” of P2 million a month that must be remitted to the head office.

Following the press conference, President Marcos ordered yesterday the indefinite suspension of Guadiz. A statement from the Presidential Communications Office said the LTFRB chief was suspended “amid reports of alleged corruption under his leadership.”

It’s not the first time that allegations of corruption have been hurled against the LTFRB. What’s new is the suspension of its chief on orders of the President himself. For many years, accusations of graft also hounded its sister agency the Land Transportation Office, where the circuitous processing of driver’s licenses and motor vehicle license plates allowed “fixers” to thrive. Guadiz headed the LTO from July 2022 before he was tapped for the LTFRB in December last year.

Two laws to cut red tape and promote ease of doing business have led to the streamlining of requirements and steps in securing licenses and permits from the LTO. Yet the problems raised by Manibela, which must be serious enough for the group to announce a transport strike, indicate that corruption persists in transport agencies.

With the amounts allegedly in the millions and Tumbado claiming that the payoffs reach all the way to Malacañang, any probe must be as independent and impartial as possible. At the same time, structural reforms are needed to plug opportunities for corruption in the