Lastimoso sacked as LTO chief; Bengson is replacement

After being publicly berated by President Arroyo last June 9, Land Transportation Office (LTO) chief Roberto Lastimoso has reportedly been sacked from office and was not aware of it until yesterday.

Sources said Secretary Leandro Mendoza of the Department of Transportation and Communications is set to formally announce the reassignment of Lastimoso, who will retain his post as assistant secretary for land transportation at the DOTC.

The same sources said the President has not yet appointed Lastimoso’s replacement at the LTO.

However, Mendoza has recommended that DOTC Undersecretary for Special Concerns and Maritime Affairs Agustin Bengzon be named as the LTO’s officer-in-charge until the President finds a permanent replacement for Lastimoso, the sources added. Bengzon is out of the country and will return on July 9.

Sources at the DOTC said that should Bengzon replace Lastimoso as LTO chief, this would create a confusing hierarchy in the department — Bengzon, an undersecretary, would assume a post considered as a demotion, while Lastimoso would technically be his senior since the LTO is a line agency under the supervision of the DOTC.

Lastimoso, for his part, expressed surprise about his being sacked as LTO chief when reporters asked him about it.

"Kuryente lang iyan. Wala akong alam diyan (It’s a bum steer. I don’t know anything about that)," he told reporters prior to a meeting with Mendoza yesterday.

He later said in a television interview, "I have not received any official communication."

Lastimoso added that when he talked to Mendoza and presidential chief of staff Rigoberto Tiglao yesterday, neither mentioned anything about his removal from office. – With Ann Corvera