LTO: 2 fixers arrested in Parañaque after asking P9,000 for non-appearance registration

LTO

MANILA, Philippines — Two alleged fixers asking for P9,000 in exchange for a non-appearance registration of a vehicle were arrested in Parañaque, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) said.

LTO, in a statement on Monday said the joint operation of the Philippine National Police and LTO’s National Capital Region West office said that the two suspects were arrested on Sunday, in Parañaque’s Barangay Moonwalk.

LTO Parañaque chief Florante Martin said the arrest of the two suspects was prompted by a Facebook post, where netizens are being given an option to just pay a higher sum of money in exchange for not appearing before the LTO office.

“Na monitor po namin ito sa kanilang post sa Facebook, so kaya nag conduct kami ng entrapment operation with the PNP. Confirmed na gumagawa sila ng non-appearance registration sa halagang P9,000 each,” Martin said.

(We monitored this on their Facebook post, so we conducted an entrapment operation with the PNP. It was confirmed that they are doing non-appearance registration for P9,000 each.)

LTO-NCR West Regional Director Roque Verzosa III identified the suspects as Oliver Villanueva, 68, of Barangay Karuhatan, Valenzuela City; and Jarrie Sibug, of Barangay Sun Valley, Parañaque City.

Parañaque Police Intelligence Section’s Maj led the operation. Alan Hernandez.

Both are now held at the PNP Parañaque Custodial Facility, LTO said.

According to Versoza, they are intensifying their anti-fixer campaign upon the directive of LTO chief Jose Arturo Tugade — who ordered the banning of all fixers from LTO offices last November 2022.

Usually, a fixer asks a driver’s license or a car registration applicant to process the documents for him or her at the LTO in exchange for a higher fee.

As the renewal for an unexpired and valid license would cost no more than P600 — and for vehicles with unexpired registrations, at below P3,000 — fixers stand to earn a lot from just one transaction.

READ: LTO issues ban on fixers at all agency facilities 

“We are intensifying our campaign and efforts against fixers to protect the public,” he said.

“Asahan ninyo na tuloy-tuloy itong ating magiging operasyon laban sa kanila (You can expect that these kinds operations would continue),” he added. —With reports from Niña Cuasay, trainee

JMS