|
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Councilor slams traffic admin chief on 'card scam'
By Danilo V. Adorador III
OPPOSITION Councilor Zaldy Ocon called Monday for the ouster of Roads and Traffic Administration (RTA) consultant Ramon Tabor for his alleged involvement in anomalies on the "ID card scam."
In a special report before the City Council, the lone opposition lawmaker accused Tabor of pocketing the proceeds from the P100 ID cards that the RTA is collecting from passenger jeepney conductors.
But Tabor has denied the accusations of the councilor.
Ocon said the receipts used by the RTA in collecting the ID fee were fake and bought only at a local bookstore for P7 per stab.
In using unauthorized receipts, he said, the collected money went to somebody's hands instead of reaching the city treasury.
The councilor, who brought with him a photocopy of the controversial conductor's ID and a corresponding receipt supposedly issued by RTA, said the actual cost of the ID was only P20 per inquiry at local print shops.
Using as basis the receipt in his possession, which bore serial number 2045, Ocon estimated that RTA has collected around P200,000.
He also questioned the RTA's authority to collect the ID fee since the ordinance that mandated the traffic body to issue said ID cards is silent regarding its appropriations.
At one point, the councilor challenged Tabor to file libel case against him, saying he was unafraid of the traffic official.
Councilor Alfonso Golking later disapproved of Ocon's remarks and reminded members of the City Council not to issue confrontational statements on the floor.
But Tabor in a phone interview shrugged off Ocon's allegations and denied he had threatened to file a libel suit against the latter.
Tabor explained that while there was no specific provision in City Ordinance 9382 authorizing them to collect the ID fee, he said RTA is constrained to implement the law and had came up instead with the initiative.
"Upon consultations with RTA's departments, we devised a scheme upon, which the ordinance can be implemented without further bothering the city with additional appropriations. In fact, the ordinance has no appropriations at all for this purpose," he said.
Tabor also laughed off allegations that the ID was overpriced and subsequently pocketed the proceeds, saying every thing was delegated to the private firm who charged the P100 fee.
The conductor's ID, he said, is of the same quality as the traffic enforcer's identification cards and only issued after the corresponding seminars.
The committee on public utility of Councilor Ian Mark Nacaya is expected to conduct an investigation on Ocon's allegations next week.
Last Monday, Councilor Alvin Calingin criticized the conductors ID fee saying its implementation was legally questionable and smacks of undue additional imposition on a profession.
(November 22, 2005 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here. |
|
[return to top]
[home]
[network page]
|
LOCAL NEWS
BUSINESS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
FEATURE
SUPERBALITA
|
