Virginia Torres: Roxas’s ‘first acid test’

Let’s see what he does, Deputy Minority Leader Danilo Suarez said on Wednesday of newly named Transportation Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas.

Suarez noted that in his first press conference on Tuesday, Roxas said he would spare no one.

The lawmaker said that promise would be tested in the case of Land Transportation Office (LTO) chief Virginia Torres, who is to return to her post later this month from an extended leave of absence.

“I believe that Mar’s first acid test is the case of Virgie Torres,” Suarez told the Inquirer. “Will he suspend her and file charges against her, as recommended by the [Department of Justice]? Or will she remain untouchable because she is the President’s shooting buddy?”

Suarez said “all eyes” would be on Roxas and how he would decide on the case of Torres, who also has the influential Iglesia Ni Cristo among her backers.

“If he is able to rise beyond personal ties and do what is right in the case of Torres, he will be seen as an independent and impartial Cabinet member,” the lawmaker said.

On top of the leadership issue at the LTO, Suarez said, the public would be watching how Roxas would handle the proposed hike in train fares, the compensation issue involving Philippine International Air Terminals Co. (Piatco), and the controversial merger between Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and Digital Telecommunications, which is feared to create a virtual monopoly in the lucrative mobile phone business.