By NITZ ARANCON
Correspondent
THE director of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) in northern Mindanao stepped down yesterday on orders of Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade.
Ulep, who served as LTO director for Region 10 for nearly four years, was replaced by his assistant, Nelson Manaloto. The latter would serve as officer-in-charge of the LTO regional office.
Manaloto immediately met with his subordinates, and warned against “fixers”in the LTO regional office.
He ordered the guards to bar all known fixers from entering the LTO regional office.
“No fixer is allowed to enter the LTO premises,” he said.
Manaloto also warned LTO employees against dealing with fixers.
“Any employee who violates my order will be subjected to administrative sanctions,” he warned.
The LTO in Cagayan de Oro was mentioned by President Duterte as one of the subjects of businessmen’s complaints on corruption. The other is the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) here–its director for nearly three decades, Mandangan Darimbang, opted to retire following a performance audit.
Manaloto said he could not say if the change in the LTO administration in Region 10 had anything to do with Duterte’s pronouncements.
“I am not in the position to give a comment on what the President said,” he said.
Ulep, Manaloto’s predecessor, was directed by Tugade to report for work at the LTO central office in Manila based on LTO Order no. 2016-152, dated Aug. 23.
But Ulep and Manaloto received copies of Tugade’s order only yesterday.
A separate directive, LTO Order 2016-165, also issued last month, named Manaloto as officer-in-charge of the LTO regional office.
Ulep turned over his office to Manaloto at around 10 am yesterday, ending his three years and 10 months as LTO director in northern Mindanao.
Tugade has directed Ulep to work in the office of LTO assistant secretary Edgar Galvante. Specifically, Ulep was ordered to study road safety measures, and look into the possibility of recommending amendments to the Land Transportation Traffic Code, and the controversial Joint Administrative Order 2014-01 that dramatically increased fines.
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