MMDA strike force chief keeps job

MANILA, Philippines — No sanctions will be imposed on Gabriel Go, who will stay as head of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA)’s Special Operations Group Strike Force despite facing charges for publicly berating a Quezon City police officer.

Go will instead finish a “five-day training mentorship coaching on traffic management,” as ordered by MMDA Chairman Romando Artes.

The training will focus on leadership, courtesy and discipline, with “special attention on stress and anger management,” the MMDA said yesterday.

Go will be mentored by Edison Nebrija, who was suspended in November 2023 for announcing that Sen. Bong Revilla entered the EDSA bus lane.

Reports, however, said that Revilla did not own the accosted vehicle and the suspects only mentioned his name to evade arrest.

Nebrija and Go had worked together as head and deputy of the MMDA Task Force Special Operations, respectively.

After his suspension, Nebrija was reassigned to the MMDA Traffic Education Division.

Traffic enforcers and other field personnel should “exercise maximum tolerance when dealing with unwarranted confrontation with traffic violators, address the matter in a diplomatic manner and observe the highest degree of professionalism in all official dealings,” the MMDA said.

The agency’s Legal and Legislative Affairs Staff reprimanded Go “for simple discourtesy, with a stern warning that the commission of the same in the future will be dealt with more severely.”

A video that went viral online showed Go scolding Capt. Mann Erik Felipe during a road-clearing operation in Quezon City.

Felipe filed a cyberlibel case against Go.