Tugade fires LTO official tied to drugs
Land Transportation Office OIC Rodel Yambao, 59, was arrested at his home in Tarlac City on Wednesday (May 9) after a search yielded sachets of suspected shabu. Photo by
Maria Adelaida Calayag
CLARK FREEPORT—Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade has fired the head of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) in Tarlac province after he was charged with possession of illegal drugs and a grenade by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).
Tugade sacked LTO Tarlac officer in charge, Rodel Yambao, on Thursday through an order relayed to LTO chief, Edgar Galvante.
“If you are involved in corruption, such as illegal drugs, then I will kick you out,” Tugade said in a statement issued by the Department of Transportation in Clark.
The enforcement of a search warrant on Yambao’s house in Tarlac City on Wednesday yielded nine sachets of suspected “shabu” (crystal meth), a grenade and bullets, according to the police and PDEA.
Yambao, 59, is detained at the Tarlac provincial police jail in Camp Macabulos, also in Tarlac City.
Tugade also ordered a lifestyle and corruption check on Yambao. —TONETTE OREJAS
