Before leaving behind the story of Ninja Fixers of LTFRB Region 1 whose main and solitary legacy was the circumvention of moratorium prescribed by the Board en banc for Baguio City and CAR by causing: a) the issuances of fraudulent and void PUV franchises without application, without payment of the filing fees, and the approval of new CPC applications without publication of notice and hearing; b) the issuance of taxi franchises by way of kabit legalization, appropriation, sale and transfer, dropping and substitution of false units, conversion of abandoned CPCs, all of which were based on fraudulent mother cases and/or made-up entries in the dockets, as discussed in Part 3 of this article; and c) the issuance of taxi franchises derived from legalization of abandoned CPC for Truck-for-Hire (TH) Service. Ironically, nothing was effectively done by our bright officials and mimicking transportation leaders and operators to address these issues, except to grandstand.
I V
No sooner than after the transfer of the franchising function from LTFRB Region 1 to the newly constituted LTFRB-CAR in 2003, its new Regional Director was quick to tolerate ninja fixing from among his personnel but this time, with a twist in the means and procedures employed in the circumvention of moratorium existing in Baguio City and CAR.
Since there was no transfer of records done by the outgoing and incoming Regional Directors during the turnover of franchising function from LTFRB Region 1 to LTFRB-CAR, the ninja fixers in the latter agency, in conspiracy with their counterparts in the former, were able to secure fraudulent and falsified verification of records or Certification needed by LTFRB-CAR to allow the filing and issuance of franchises or Certificates of Public Convenience although void and illegal on account of existing moratorium, as illustrated in the following:
1. Taxi franchises consisting of merely one (1) authorized unit were easily converted into an application for ten (10) units and upon approval the ninja fixers involved immediately sell and transfer the franchises for gain, despite dropping and substitution of fraudulent units thereof. Incidentally, this sale and transfer of said CPCs to ten (10) different buyers or operators was without the knowledge of the original holder of one (1) franchise, Pilar Sayo. Upon discovery of the fact that her one (1) unit franchise became ten (10) units franchise and were sold to other buyers, Pilar Sayo filed a complaint with the NBI and LTFRB-CAR, but nothing came out of it by way of supposedly rescinding the fraudulent ten (10) franchises made possible by ninja fixers.
2. In 2005, an application for extension of validity with subsequent sale and transfer was instigated by one outside fixer Regina Sibayan with encouragement from ninja personnel from LTFRB-CAR based on a Certification of false application for one (1) Garage Service fraudulently entered by the ninja Record Officer in the docket of LTFRB Region 1 in 1997 allegedly filed by one James Valeros under Case No. 97-01-1337. This application in 2005 in the name of the First Party James Valeros and Second Party Regina Sibayan was denominated as Application for Change Party Applicant for the amendment of route with the substitution of units of an application for issuance of a Certificate of Public Convenience to operate a Vehicle-for-Hire Service was signed and filed only by the Second Party Regina Sibayan in December 2005 without the knowledge, consent and signature of the First Party Applicant James S. Valeros who was then in Canada from September 2004 until February 2005 when the application was heard and approved.
The approved CPC for vehicle-for-hire were thereafter sold and transferred to ten (10) individual buyers through the ninja fixers in less than the one (1) year allowed by the Board which surprisingly was approved by the Regional Director. The said vehicles-for-hire continue to operate until now despite the petition for their cancellation filed by the then First Party Applicant Atty. Valeros. The petition was granted by the Board due to the default of the respondent-buyer-operators but the Order penned by Atty. Nullar was not implemented, hence, ironically, the ten (10) individual operators/transferees of the fraudulent Vehicle-for-Hire now converted into UV Express Service still continue to operate happily before the noses of LTFRB-CAR authorities.
(to be continued)
