By Raymond Carl Dela Cruz
MANILA – The Land Transportation Office (LTO) is looking for the source of fake drivers’ licenses used by former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) engineers, also called the Bulacan Group of Contractors or BGC Boys, to enter casinos.
In a press conference on Friday, LTO chief Assistant Secretary Vigor Mendoza II said the probe by the Intelligence and Investigation Division (IID) into dismissed DPWH-Bulacan First District engineers Henry Alcantara, Brice Hernandez and three others aims to identify the supplier of the fake IDs.
“They need to tell us kung sino nag-supply. Kung hindi man sila mismo, kung saan nanggaling, para sa ganun mahinto natin ang naging practice na ‘to sa paggamit at paggawa ng fake licenses (If not who, but where, so that we can stop this practice of using and manufacturing fake licenses),” Mendoza said.
He said coordination with several casinos is ongoing to find out whether the use of fake IDs is becoming a regular practice for their clientele.
“We would like to work with them and see their findings also. We would like to secure more evidence, important details na magagamit ng (that can be used by the) LTO regarding the usage of driver’s license,” Mendoza said.
He said the probe will decide whether their authentic driver’s licenses, currently suspended for 90 days, will be revoked and whether they will be perpetually disqualified from getting new licenses.
Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson is expected to bring new information on the case by next week and finalize the result of the LTO’s probe by Sept. 17.
“Kapag nakuha natin ‘yan, ipre-presenta natin sa kanila ‘yun and then when we get their position on this matter bukod sa mga fake documents na ‘to. So, after that, kung wala na silang ibang sasabihin, submitted for decision na po ‘yan (Once we receive this information, we’ll present it, we’ll get their position on this matter aside from the fake documents. After that, if they have nothing else, we’ll submit this for decision),” he said.
On Thursday, the LTO issued preventive suspensions against the BGC Boys for “alleged willful misrepresentation of material information in application for a Driver’s License (RA 10930) and Imitation and False Representation (Sec. 31 of R.A. 4136).”
In a Senate probe last week, Alcantara admitted to using an alias and a fake ID to enter a casino. (PNA)
