MANILA, Philippines — The chair of the transport group Manibela has admitted that it might have been “used” by Jeff Tumbado, a former executive assistant who accused his former office, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), of being involved in corruption.
Antipolo 2nd District Rep. Romeo Acop, chair of the House Committee on Transportation, asked the Manibela chair, Mar Valbuena, about the issue on Monday during a hearing of his panel.
“Mr. Valbuena, do you think you were used, you and your organization?” Acop said.
Replying in Filipino, Valbuena said: “Yes, Your Honor. But in the around three months we’ve been talking [he was consistent]. Of course, we studied this also. We knew what would be the outcome once he issued a different statement one day. But what’s important is that people would know corrupt schemes inside LTFRB.”
Acop, a former police general who is also a lawyer, asked Valbuena if the group had sought legal counsel on whether Tumbado’s claims could be actionable.
Valbuena said the lawyers of Manibela believed that the evidence against LTFRB was strong. He noted that Tumbado gave them screenshots of conversations between suspended LTFRB chief Teofilo Guadiz III and a Central Luzon official who was supposedly informing Guadiz that transport groups were ready to pay for their franchises.
Last Oct. 9, Tumbado accused Guadiz of being involved in schemes where the LTFRB would for grease money from transport groups to facilitate their...
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