Another LTFRB exec quits as scam unravels

Yet another official of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has resigned after the discovery of a scam involving the sale of franchises to transport operators, officials said Thursday.

Mary Jane Manajero, administrative officer at the LTRFB’s National Capital Region (NCR) office,  tendered her resignation on Monday, hours after the agency’s chair, Martin Delgra III, exposed the scam to the media.

Manajero cited “health reasons” for her resignation, according to LTFRB board member Aileen Lizada.

Manajero was earlier ordered reassigned to the LTFRB office in Cotabato City after her unit, which also holds office in Quezon City like the central office, was found to have been maintaining a “ghost database,” said Lizada.

The database contained valid as well as expired and revoked franchises that were sold off to public utility vehicle operators for a high fee despite an existing moratorium on the release of franchises, officials said.

Entrapment

An operator coughed up as much as P310,000 for a franchise, a team from the LTFRB and the National Bureau of Investigation found out during a recent entrapment operation.

Lawyer Melchor Fronda, hearing officer at the NCR office, earlier resigned after the discovery of the ghost database.

Regional director Rodolfo Jaucian and technical evaluation division head Jean Gunda, who worked at the same NCR office,  stayed with LTFRB.

Jaucian was put on floating status at the career executive service officer pool, while Gunda was transferred to the LTFRB office in Zamboanga City.

Lizada said the agency also issued a show cause order to Jaucian’s secretary, Gracel Amacio, after she repeatedly failed to report to the LTFRB central office for questioning, claiming that she was suffering from high blood pressure.

Amacio had access to a laptop found at the NCR office, which led to the discovery of the ghost database, she said.

The NCR officials had committed a string of violations such as the sale and transfer of franchises beyond the deadline; modification of routes; non-charging of the P50 clearance fee, and failure to report expired franchises that were up for appropriation, according to Lizada.