MANILA, Philippines — The Pasig City government apprehended 467% more violators of the Metro Manila-wide truck ban last month than it did in June, Mayor Vico Sotto said on Saturday.
Sotto, who is governing the country’s eighth most populous city after an insurgent bid against former Mayor Robert Eusebio, posted a graph on Twitter that showed only 310 violators were apprehended in the final month of Eusebio’s term.
The number has risen steadily since then, from 510 and 632 in July and August, respectively, to a record 1,448 apprehensions in September.
“When I became mayor in July, we saw that many violators of the truck ban were getting away because they had protectors,” said Sotto, who did not go into details.
“The numbers in this infographic are proof that we are slowly winning the fight against ‘kotong’ (extortion),” he added, noting that “we are slowly changing the culture of government.” — Matthew Reysio-Cruz