MANILA, Philippines — The driver who rammed a security guard on traffic management duty did not attend the hearing set by the Land Transportation Office (LTO) on Tuesday.
LTO chief Edgar Galvante told INQUIRER.net in a text message that the registered driver of the involved vehicle was a no show despite an order asking the individual to appear before the agency’s Intelligence and Investigation Division at 1 p.m., June 7.
READ: LTO summons owner of SUV in hit-and-run incident of traffic officer
Because of this, Galvante said: “Today, we issued the second and final notice directing the registered owner to appear, submit [a] comment/explanation on 10 June 2022, 1:00 p.m. as he did not appear at 1 p.m. today.”
Galvante added that if the driver fails to appear again on June 10, the driver “waives his right to be heard” and the LTO will proceed with the administrative hearing in his absence.
The LTO issued the show-cause order after a video of a hit-and-run incident involving a compact SUV and a security guard, identified as 31-year-old Christian Floralde who was managing traffic flow at an intersection of the Ortigas business district in Mandaluyong City, went viral on social media last weekend.
In the video, Floralde was on traffic management duty at the intersection of J. Vargas Avenue and Saint Francis Street in Barangay Wack-Wack when a white Toyota RAV4 (NCO 3781) hit him, causing him to fall to the ground. Instead of stopping, the vehicle proceeded to run over Floralde and fled.
READ: Security guard ‘intentionally’ run over by SUV in Mandaluyong
The victim sustained an abrasion on his head and had difficulty breathing. He is currently confined at the VRP hospital.
The Mandaluyong City Police, meanwhile, has lodged a complaint of frustrated murder and abandonment of the victim against the still unidentified driver.