GOV. Aris Aumentado minced no words of describing as “abuse of authority” the act of Land Transport Office Region 7 field men in dealing with an ordinary person like what prevailed in Panglao town.
The governor was referring to a case of an alleged farmer in Panglao town, who appeared in the video being harassed, subdued and was about to be stabbed with the use of the knife allegedly by the LTO men, who were wearing blue long sleeves shirts.
“When the knife was retrieved, they continued to drag the man off the vehicle and attempted to arrest him. The man resisted and repeatedly stated that he is a farmer,” according to a news report.
A lot of onlookers were able to take a video of the incident that went viral and feasted in social media being shared by many facebook users.
The governor told media interview that he was disgusted upon seeing the video of a person being dealt by the LTO men badly.
He said that he did not buy the LTO’s men in such dealing since there was already a physical contact. He said that this is not the work of the LTO field men. They could have called the police to attend to the erring person.
This prompted him to call the LTO Regional Director Glenn Galario to pull out all his men out of Bohol.
As a result of the call of the governor, “LTO 7 has immediately suspended all law enforcement operations in Bohol Province and has withdrawn the field enforcement officers from the area pending a full investigation into the matter.”
The individual (whose identity is kept under wraps) involved in the incident is said to be currently in police custody while appropriate charges are being prepared against him.
LTO 7 has issued a statement on this score and quoted director Galario to conduct an immediate probe. “This investigation will be conducted in accordance with established procedures, and any officer found to have acted outside of protocol will be held accountable.”
“We sincerely apologize to the public for the distress caused by this incident. We understand the gravity of the situation, and we assure you that due process will be followed through a thorough and impartial investigation. Rest assured, LTO 7 is committed to transparency, accountability, and maintaining public trust in our operations,” the statement concluded. (rvo)
