BAGUIO CITY – Regional director Jose Eduardo Natividad of the Cordillera office of the Department of Transportation (DOTr-CAR) lashed back at his deputy, Mohammad Naser Abbas, for allegedly issuing unfounded, baseless, fabricated and malicious statements against him over the past several weeks that tend to taint the overall image of the agency from the perception of the public.
Natividad claimed that the reckless statements of Abbas that were broadcasted over a local radio station is already too much and considered to be below the belt that is why he intends to consult his lawyers on what legal action to take against the erring official who refuses to follow specific instructions and adhere to the hierarchy of leadership in the said office which has created serious impasse.
“We have to take drastic moves against a fellow government officer who refuses to show respect to his superior as if what he is doing is the right thing. We opted to keep quiet in the past because we were hoping that he will change his ways to the better but he took advantage of our being lenient to him and went beyond his assigned duties and responsibilities that is why he needs to be taught a lesson the hard way,” Natividad stressed.
The DOTr-CAR official claimed that if Abbas read the pertinent department orders and memorandum circulars, he should not be issuing statements against the transport network vehicle services because it is clear in the rules that the regional director is authorized to issue a 45-day provisional authority for the same to operate while renewals are issued by the Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB) en banc.
On the allegation of Abbas that he had been tolerating the proliferation of colorum vehicles, Natividad urged that based on statistics, DOTR-Car landed in the third spot among the 17 regions in the number of apprehended colorum vehicles last year and the number of colorum vehicles that had been apprehended regionwide had been increasing over the past several years.
According to him, in fact, Abbas insisted to perform law enforcement activities with the alleged claim that he is the chairman of the Task Force Kama-o in the region when he failed to show the appropriate appointment documents from the LTFRB central office that he is really deputized to perform such functions in the region, thus, he was grounded for such purpose and was asked to produce the said appointment which he failed to do up to date.
Natividad emphasized that despite limited manpower, the DOTr-CAR was able to show that it could excel in the campaign against colorum vehicles in the region for the overall benefit of the legitimate members of the region’s transport sector that is why all the allegations of Abbas against him are purely unfounded and does not hold water because of the absence of corroborating evidence.
He recognized the fact that they were assigned by the department in the region supposedly to help in implementing the pertinent transport rules and regulations for the betterment of the transport sector but it seems Abbas continues to issue unnecessary remarks against many officials of the agency which are often times uncalled for from a ranking official like him, thus, putting in jeopardy the integrity and credibility of the performance of their duties and responsibilities.
By HENT
