Gov’t panel clears Torres in Pajero scam

MANILA, Philippines—Virginia Torres, the chief of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and shooting range buddy of President Benigno Aquino III, may heave a sigh of relief—at least for now.

An interagency task force looking into allegations LTO officials and police personnel were involved in car theft syndicates has cleared Torres of complicity in the alleged fraudulent registration of a Mitsubishi Pajero in 2009 when she was head of the LTO office in Tarlac.

The committee likewise cleared Philippine National Police Director Roberto Rosales, who was reportedly identified in a military intelligence report as a protector of car thieves.

Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo on Tuesday said that the joint Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and Department of Justice (DoJ) panel also absolved Torres of charges she had been facilitating the registration of stolen vehicles.

“We’re clearing her in the sense that we do know that she was not responsible for registering the vehicle,” Robredo told reporters in Camp Crame.

“Let’s be very fair about it,” Robredo said. “It was really clear that the registration was done by the predecessor of Torres. So very likely, there was a presumption that the registration papers were clean when these renewed.”

Sought for comment, Rosales said: “I was confident that I would be cleared because there was no basis in linking me to car thieves. Nobody has even surfaced to accuse me of any wrongdoing.”

A February 2 report from the Highway Patrol Group (HPG) showed that Torres, who was named LTO chief last July by Mr. Aquino, was among the 26 LTO and police personnel facing administrative and criminal charges in connection with activities of car thieves.

The report was released amid a public uproar over the grisly murders of car dealers Venson Evangelista and Emerson Lozano, which were blamed on a gang allegedly led by the brothers Roger and Raymond Dominguez, both now under PNP custody.

Curiously, the DoJ has yet to act on the criminal complaint filed by the HPG on May 7, 2009, against Torres in connection with the registration of the Pajero using papers pertaining to a Honda motorcycle.

Asked about this, Robredo said: “I think our conclusion will be the same.”

“While it was true that the serial number of the original registration of the Pajero was taken from a motorcycle, she only signed the renewal of an old registration,” he told reporters at the launching of the “Sky Police” project in Camp Crame.

“Was she in a position to verify the previous registrations? That’s the question there. When she signed those documents, I think there was a presumption of regularity,” he added.

Robredo said the panel might summon Torres’ predecessor, whom he identified only as a certain Director Leonilos, to explain the mess.

As to Torres’ alleged role in the registration of stolen vehicles, he said: “I don’t think she was involved in that. I think other people are.”

Robredo said the committee recommended the filing of criminal charges against 13 LTO officials in Polomolok, South Cotabato, and Davao province, who allegedly facilitated the registration of the Mitsubishi Pajero using spurious documents.

He said the task force furnished Mr. Aquino and Justice Secretary Leila de Lima copies of its report.