MMDA-backed tow crew leader sues OMB agent

A complaint has been filed in the Quezon City prosecutor’s office against an agent of the Optical Media Board (OMB) who allegedly berated and showed his gun to a member of a towing team during an operation against illegal parking. Assisted by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), Larry Miravite of JC Towing Co. sued Ronnie Tampinco for light threat on Wednesday. The incident happened near the OMB Building at the corner of Scout Tobias and Scout Limbaga streets around 9:30 a.m. of May 24. Miravite, the towing team leader, was taking a video of illegally parked vehicles on Scout Tobias, which is part of the Mabuhay Lanes, when a man later identified as Tampinco approached and cursed him. Miravite explained that the vehicles were parked in a tow-away zone and his team, together with the MMDA, was conducting a clearing operation on the Mabuhay Lanes. According to the complainant, Tampinco boarded one of the illegally parked cars then approached him again, lifting his shirt to show a gun tucked in his waistband. MMDA chair Danilo Lim earlier ordered the investigation and filing of appropriate charges against the OMB agent. “We will not let this incident pass because we have to protect our people from abusive individuals,” Lim said. —Erika Sauler