docs jeopardize public safety

The chief of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) on Friday said fixers and those selling fake licenses and other documents “jeopardize” public safety.

LTO chief, Assistant Secretary Jose Arturo “Jay Art” Tugade said the agency would continue to work with law enforcement authorities and the public to “eradicate the dishonest activities that have tarnished the agency’s reputation.”

“Fake licenses result in unqualified and hazardous drivers, while counterfeit vehicle regis- trations indicate vehicles that are not roadworthy,” he said.

Tugade lauded the work of the City Intelligence Unit of the Cagayan de Oro police and the LTO Region 10 in separate operations that led to the arrest of two alleged fixers.

“Our agency strives to maintain the integrity of our processes and ultimately safeguard the public,” Tugade said.

The operations began after an informant notified the police of receiving a counterfeit LTO official receipt for their vehicle from a delivery rider.

“This led to the rider’s arrest and the subsequent apprehension of a woman accused of producing false documents,” he said.

Authorities confiscated fraudulent ORs, certificates of registration, driver’s licenses, and equipment used in creating counterfeit documents during the operations.

“The two detained suspects are in police custody and will face charges for falsifying public documents,” he said.

A third suspect remains atlarge. (PNA)

“May mga protocols tayong kailangan pa rin nating panatilihin. I think kasama diyan yung how we will incorporate yung vaccination sa programa natin, na we need to continue to protect the population, especially yung population at high risk ang mortality, yung vulnerable population,” he said.

“Importante pa rin ‘yan dahil alam natin that the virus continues to mutate, and there are (members of the) population at high risk of getting the infection, that can also get the more severe infection,” he added.

Solante said surveillance of cases and monitoring of the capacity of medical facilities to handle coronavirus infections should also be sustained.

The Department of Health said Friday evening it will convene members of the Inter-Agency Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) to reassess policies and other guide-

In the Philippines, close to 4.1 million cases have been confirmed as of Friday, including 9,159 that are active and 66,444 deaths.

It is “with great hope that I declare COVID-19 over as a global health emergency”, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters on Friday, estimating that the pandemic had killed “at least 20 million” people -- nearly three times the under seven million deaths officially recorded.

But, Tedros warned, the decision did not mean the danger was over, cautioning that the emergency status could be reinstated if the situation changes.

“The worst thing any country could do now is to use this news as a reason to let down its guard, to dismantle the systems it has built, or to send the message to its people that COVID-19 is nothing to worry about,” he said.