Five LTO R7 enforcers in volved in Panglao incident dismissed
Last week, a video went viral when five LTO Region 7 enforcers were seen manhandling a motorcycle rider. Allegedly, the incident stemmed from when LTO enforcers saw a knife after they flagged down the motorcycle rider. Despite the rider’s insistence that the knife is one of his tools as a farmer, the LTO enforcers tried to take him down with force.
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has immediately ordered the LTO to conduct an investigation and today, March 3, 2025, it was announced that all the enforcers involved in this incident in Panglao, Bohol, have been dismissed from service effective immediately.
DOTr Secretary Vince Dizon
“We are the people’s servants, and not their lords. It is in that context that I would like to announce, in behalf of the Department of Transportation and the Land Transportation Office, effective today, we are dismissing the law enforcers involved in the incident in Panglao, Bohol. They are hereby dismissed immediately,” said Transportation Secretary, Vince Dizon.
Sec. Dizon also added that it is no longer necessary to prolong the investigation as there is compelling evidence based on the information presented to him by Assistant Secretary for Road Transport Jojo Reyes.
“We cannot allow this kind of behavior to come from our government employees…even with all that [alleged traffic violations], nothing can justify the violence displayed by our local enforcers, which is the basis for our decision,” added Sec. Dizon.
