‘It is pathetic that the public expects bureau or office chiefs to rob the government or the public of millions of pesos in graft.’

GOVERNMENT agencies which deal directly with the public and have licensing powers are prone to becoming a hotbed of corruption because of the nature of their regulatory functions. Another contributory factor that supports the numerous opportunities for fixing and graft is the big number of clientele that these agencies have to accept and process every day, leading to procedural delays.

One such agency is the Land Transportation Office (LTO), whose main office in Quezon City and satellite offices in the provinces and cities are always full of people who are either applying for or renewing their driver’s licenses. Two other important functions of the LTO is the registration of vehicles, aside from the issuance of license plates, which both involve many individual applicants.

It is common knowledge that people who do not want to fall in line or wait for their turn are sometimes willing to part with some money just to make things easy for them. And so, fixers abound in the LTO, many of them operating in and out of the agency’s compound, fraternizing with organic personnel of the agency. These fixers do deliver on their promise of quick and better service, thanks to their patrons and friends inside the LTO, and money changes hands every day.

When low-ranking employees commit graft this way, people tend to dismiss it as “normal” and they look the other way. But when the head of the agency is involved, well, it becomes a real matter of concern. This is because no right-thinking chief will gamble his or her position, career, retirement pension, etc. for a measly P7,000, as what happened in the LTO Bustos, Bulacan branch. It is pathetic that the public expects bureau or office chiefs to rob the government or the public of millions of pesos in graft.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has announced that the head of the LTO Bustos was arrested in an entrapment operation for allegedly conniving with fixers. Catherine Nolasco-Illescas, NBI Public Corruption Division (PCD) chief, said the LTO head, whose name is withheld, was arrested after ordering his staff to process a fixed application for renewal of driver’s license.

Illescas said an NBI-PCD agent posed as an applicant for license renewal.

A fixer allegedly offered an expedited processing for P7,000, promising that the applicant need not take the required exam. When the agent agreed, the fixer assisted the applicant in filling out forms and also instructed him to pretend to be taking the exam, even when the answers were already provided.

Illescas said that despite the applicant bypassing several steps, including the examination, the LTO office approved the license. She added that the fixer handed all the documents to the chief, and then the chief handed them to the staff to process. Both the fixer and the LTO chief are facing charges for violating the Anti-Red Tape Law and the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

A criminal offense like this necessarily opens up a deeper probe, during which the NBI established that the suspected violator is no ordinary fixer in that LTO agency — he operates a driving school near the facility and his family owns the land being rented by the government office.

The NBI should pursue this particular case up to its logical conclusion, which is to bring behind bars all those involved in the crime.