Last November 25, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chairman Francis Tolentino personally caught in the act one of his agency's former traffic enforcer who was still misrepresenting himself as an active member of the agency's traffic force--a year after he stopped reporting for duty.
According to the MMDA, Tolentino was on his way to a speaking engagement in Manila when his vehicle was flagged down by former traffic aide Edwin Vicentino "without any clear violation." Vicentino, who was wearing his MMDA uniform and ID during the incident, was questioned by Tolentino as to what the specific traffic violation was. When Vicentino couldn't give a straight answer to any of the MMDA chairman's questions, Tolentino got in touch with his agency's headquarters, upon which he found out that the ex-traffic enforcer "has not been reporting for duty since November last year and was officially dropped from the agency's official roster as of May 1, 2012."
"What he did was both illegal and unethical," said Tolentino. "The MMDA is very strict regarding these matters, and we do not tolerate such behavior from any of our enforcers or employees. Mr. Vicentino, by posing as a figure of authority with malice, is tainting the name of our agency."
Tolentino also warned the public to be aware of enforcers who might try to take advantage of them, especially this Christmas season.
"Please do not hesitate to contact us if you run into any corrupt enforcers on the road," Tolentino added. "We have our MetroSolusyon website especially for that."
The MMDA's MetroSolusyon website (metrosolusyon.mmda.gov.ph) is designed to encourage citizen participation in the agency's active campaign against corruption by giving them a medium through which they can report complaints on any matter involving MMDA employees engaged in corrupt practices.
As for Vicentino, Tolentino said the agency will file a formal complaint against him for usurpation of authority.
