Philippine Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade has ordered the filing of administrative charges against a Department of Transportation (DOTr) official for allegedly accepting bribes from a transport cooperative.
Tugade instructed Undersecretary for Legal Affairs and Procurement Reinier Paul Yebra to file the appropriate charges for administrative offenses including grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service against Roberto Delfin, supervising transportation and development officer.
Delfin is assigned to the Road Transport Planning Division of DOTr.
Based on a formal charge dated November 3, 2017, Delfin received, through his aide Narciso Lim, P150,000 in exchange for the DOTr’s supposed favorable action on New Sunrise Transport Cooperative’s (NTSC) application for a route measure capacity.
“The said amount is in addition to other gifts and favors you asked for and received from NTSC, including escort services and all-expense paid accommodation in a private resort,” the formal charge added.
Last January 10, 2018, Yebra issued a 90-day preventive suspension order against Delfin, saying that “your position affords you the opportunity to exert undue influence or pressure on potential witnesses and tamper with evidence pending formal investigation.”
This is the first time under the current DOTr administration that it will be filing a case against an employee.
Tugade has reiterated several times that corruption will be eliminated under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.
“Nagbabala na ako sa inyo noon pang simula. Wala dapat bahid ng korapsyon sa ating sistema, dahil oras na may mahuli ako, hindi ako mangingiming tanggalin ka. Ayaw natin ng ganyan. Ayaw ng Presidente ng ganyan [I warned you from the very start. There should be no hint of corruption in our system because once I catch you, I won’t hesitate to fire you. We don’t want that. The President doesn’t want that],” Tugade said.
