DOTr summons PNP driver for evading enforcers at EDSA busway

MANILA – The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has ordered the summoning of the driver of a white Philippine National Police (PNP) van after it eluded enforcers at the Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) busway on Wednesday.

The DOTr ordered the Land Transportation Office (LTO) to issue a show cause order to the unidentified driver of the van.

The driver was flagged down by enforcers of the DOTr’s Special Action Intelligence Committee for Transportation (SAICT) for illegally passing through the EDSA busway at the northbound side of Ortigas station.

“The driver of the said PNP van disregarded two operatives of Special Operations Unit (SOU) and sped away to the northbound part of busway station,” the DOTr said in a statement Thursday.

In 2023, the DOTr, its line agencies, and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) began crackdown on the illegal use of the EDSA busway by civilian motorists and government officials.

Aside from buses and responding emergency vehicles, only vehicles of the top-ranking officials in the country are allowed to use the busway -- the President, Vice President, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Zero tolerance

The Philippine National Police (PNP), meanwhile, said the police officer has been relieved from his post.

In a press briefing at Camp Crame, Quezon City on Thursday, PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo said the erring officer was found to be from the Police Regional Office (PRO) 10 (Northern Mindanao).

“I have talked with the regional director of the PRO 10 and he has been relieved and would face administrative charges for failure to follow specific instructions which prohibit the passage of any marked vehicle in the EDSA bus lane,” Fajardo said.

She said an investigation is underway to determine whether the police officer had a companion at the time of incident. (with Lloyd Caliwan/PNA)