MMDA suspends tow truck company over scam

MANILA, Philippines - The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Tuesday suspended the operations of an accredited towing company after one of their tow trucks got involved in an alleged irregular towing operation in Quezon City last Monday.

MMDA chairman Emerson Carlos said the operation of the Arcson Towing Services was suspended indefinitely to allow the agency to conduct its probe into the incident that went viral after it was posted over Facebook.

“This is in response to the Facebook post of Trix Lareza-Clasara in behalf of her sister, Kristen Ann Uy de Baron, which narrated an alleged illegal towing scam involving Arcson Towing Services at Savemore Broadway, yesterday, May 23, at around 11 a.m. Pending the result of the agency’s probe into the complaint, MMDA Chairman Emerson S. Carlos has already ordered the indefinite suspension of all Arcson tow trucks, including tow truck with plate number AVA 4494, the one used in the alleged scam,” the MMDA said in a statement.

“With the suspension, no tow trucks from Arcson Towing Services will be dispatched for operations starting today, May 24, 2016. Rest assured the MMDA is continuously pursuing good governance in all of its endeavors, including cleansing its ranks of unscrupulous individuals,” the MMDA added.

According to Crisanto Saruca, head of the MMDA’s Traffic Discipline Office (TDO), the agency is looking into the angle that there was coercion involved in the towing of De Baron’s sports utility vehicle by a tow truck of Arcson Towing Services.

According to a narration of the incident which was shared by De Baron’s sister Trix Lareza-Clasara, the alleged towing scam happened at Savemore Broadway, at around 11 a.m. on Monday.

Based on the story, De Baron was pushing her grocery cart outside of Savemore Broadway at about 11 a.m. when she got a phone call from her driver.

De Baron said her driver informed her that her Isuzu MU-X sports utility vehicle was being towed.

De Baron said she tapped on her car’s window and asked the member of the towing company who was driving it to pull over. The driver and his companion were wearing t-shirts that bear the MMDA logo, the narration said.

“I must be honest: I am not at all familiar with MMDA towing procedure. I do not drive and do not have a license. It did alarm me that they managed to get the keys from my driver and take over our vehicle. They then asked us to get in the car to ‘talk things over.’ So MMDA Guy 1 was at the wheel, I was in the front passenger seat, my driver was behind me and MMDA Guy 2 was beside him. They then proceeded to tell me that this was a serious offense. I asked them how much I needed to pay as penalty, and they told me they had to make a phone call to their ‘boss,’ and that I could talk to him (the boss) on the cellphone to explain my case,” said De Baron.

“I called my husband and informed him we had just been towed. At this point, our car was tied to a towing truck with plate number AVA 4494, and we were being driven around in a slow pace toward Ortigas. I was told by MMDA Guy 2 that we were going to be impounded at Ultra unless we could come to a settlement. At some point, exasperated, I asked for their names so I could make due note of their strange behavior. They refused to give their names. They never presented proper MMDA IDs, and they just threatened me with immediate impoundment,” she added.

De Baron said the personnel of the towing company demanded P4,000 from her as penalty.

“When I got handed the cellphone to talk to their ‘boss,’ I tried checking the name written on the screen, but the screen of the phone was completely black. The person on the other line did not introduce himself either, and when I asked him how much the penalty was, he just kept saying to me: ‘Bahala na yung mga nanghuli sa’yo at nasa kanila na rin kung papakawalan ka nila o hindi.’ So I handed the phone back to MMDA Guy 2, and he proceeded to say things like: ‘Ah okay, P4,000 ang charge talaga dun sa ganon? Ah, okay-okay-okay.’ And he hung up the phone. He then told me that the penalty was P4,000, but ‘para makatulong na lang sa inyo, magkano sa tingin niyo ang maibibigay ninyo.’ This confirmed my suspicions that this was an illegal, elaborate and premeditated scam,” De Baron said.

De Baron said that the towing company personnel only agreed to release their sports utility vehicle after her husband arrived at the scene along Ortigas Avenue.

“He (De Baron’s husband) started to angrily tell off the MMDA guys, stressing that it was against the law to demand our keys and drive our car. MMDA Guy 2 was still trying to bargain with my husband, saying we could just settle this and that he was only trying to help us. He went back and forth to the tow truck. When my husband refused to back down and even insisted for them to tow the car so that we might get a legal official MMDA receipt--as well as all their names and the name of their superior--they started to unhook the car from the tow truck. MMDA Guy 2 then ended things by saying: ‘Hindi bale na lang, sir. Ayan ha, hindi na namin kayo ito-tow,’ De Baron said.