THE driver of the luxury car Cadillac Escalade with a “fake” number “7” protocol plate has surrendered to the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and owned up to his traffic violation.
LTO chief Vigor Mendoza presented 52-year-old Angelito Edpan in a press conference yesterday.
“The driver and the registered owner of the SUV contacted us yesterday (Tuesday) and informed us that they would show up and take responsibility for the unfortunate incident at Guadalupe, Makati,” Mendoza said.
“The mystery behind the ownership and the people behind the controversial SUV with a number 7 protocol plate on EDSA busway is already solved,” he also said.
A video of the white car illegally using the EDSA busway lane and almost running over a female traffic enforcer went viral on Sunday night. The LTO last Monday night said the protocol plate attached to the vehicle was supposedly fake since the vehicle was not registered to any of the senators who have been issued the special plate.
The protocol plate number 7 is issued exclusively for the use of incumbent senators.
Edpan, who has been a driver for two years for the Orient Pacific Corporation, which owns the vehicle, arrived at the LTO office with Omar Guinmola, a company director.
News reports citing documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) indicate that the Orient Pacific Corporation is supposedly owned by family members of Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian.
The senator has yet to comment on the matter as of printing time.
The SEC documents show that Orient Pacific Corporation has two listings.
One office is based in Makati City and lists William Gatchalian as chairman and president, and Kenneth Gatchalian as vice president and corporate secretary. William is the senator’s father, while Kenneth is his brother.
The other listing is in Pasig City, where Kenneth is named as president, while their mother, Dee Hua, is listed as the corporate treasurer.
During the press conference called by the LTO, Edpan apologized for using the EDSA busway and for trying to run over a female traffic enforcer while escaping.
“Ako po ay humihingi ng pasensiya. Hindi ko nais na makasakit sa enforcer na pumara sa akin (I would like to ask for forgiveness. I did not intend to hurt the traffic enforcer who flagged me),” he said, adding that he entered the busway lane thinking that no one would accost him since it was a Sunday.
At the time of the incident, he said he had a company guest as passenger but whose name he supposedly does not know.
Edpan also said he has no idea who attached the protocol plate to the vehicle.
Guinmola also apologized for the incident and assured the LTO and the public that the company is conducting an internal investigation on the circumstances related to the use of the protocol plate.
Sen. Raffy Tulfo, in a press conference at the Senate, quoted his “sources” as saying that the owner of the white Cadillac Escalade is “related” to a senator, the name of which he refused to disclose.
He also said that the senator was not the passenger and that the lawmaker could have been unaware of the incident.
According to his sources, Tulfo said the driver and a companion fetched the company guest at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at around 6 p.m. Sunday and headed towards the northbound direction using the Skyway in Magallanes and exited at Guadalupe in Makati.
He said the driver was to bring their guest to the Solaire Resort North in Quezon City.
He also said that the driver’s companion was a former member of the armed forces.
“We will coordinate with AFP para alamin. Kapag natukoy, kakausapin ang security baka sabihin niya kung sino yung VIP (We will coordinate with the AFP to determine [his identity]. Once identified, we will ask him to identify the VIP),” he said.
When pressed who the owner of the white vehicle is, Tulfo said his information “seem to match” the names indicted in news reports.
“Base sa intel ko, mukhang tumutugma (Based on my intelligence sources, it seems to match),” he said.
Tulfo said the LTO should conduct a deeper investigation on the incident, saying that Edpan’s surrender could not have been voluntary. He did not elaborate.
He also said he will ask the LTO how it readily dismissed as fake the protocol plate attached to the vehicle.
“Sabi ng LTO fake. That has to be investigated baka nagkamali ang LTO, at baka walang permiso. I don’t think na kinunsinti niya ang kamag-anak (The LTO said it was a fake. That has to be investigated since the LTO might have been mistaken and the license plate was used with [the senator’s] permission. I don’t think that the senator will allow it),” he said.
Tulfo also slammed the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) for not having motorcycle units on standby along the EDSA busway to run after traffic violators.
He said he will file a resolution to seek an investigation on the proper issuance of protocol plates and to increase the fines for illegally using the busway from P5,000 to P50,000.
He said the Senate investigation will also focus on the “incompetence” of the MMDA when it comes to situations like this, adding that its motorcycles could have been used for other purposes like serving as escorts to VIPs, among others.
MMDA chairman Romando Artes, in a chance interview in the Senate, said the MMDA has already turned over the jurisdiction of the EDSA busway to the Department of Transportation.
“Wala na sa jurisdiction namin yan. Na-turnover na namin ang bus carousel completely sa DOTr. So ang paghuhuli diyan ay sa kanila na (We do not have jurisdiction anymore. We have completely turned over the bus carousel to the DOTr. So, the DOTr is now in-charge of apprehending busway violators),” Artes said.
He said the decision to exclude MMDA from the EDSA busway was made so its traffic enforcers can concentrate on other areas.
Artes said the MMDA will cooperate with the Senate once an investigation is conducted.
