Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 15) — Senator Bong Revilla issued a statement on Wedesday denying reports that he was apprehended for using the EDSA busway.
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority said it would investigate the incident, but apologized to Revilla pending the result of the probe.
“My daily commute is from the south to the Senate and there is no possibility I will be on EDSA in Mandaluyong. When attending to official functions in the north, I take the skyway from and back to the south,” Revilla said.
The lawmaker stressed that authorities should have done their job and issued a ticket to anyone who used his name to avoid being penalized.
“I will ask the MMDA to explain why (my) name is being dragged and smeared. Napaka aga naman yata ng paninira,” he added.
[Translation: I will ask the MMDA to explain why my name is being dragged and smeared. It seems too early in the day for me to be dragged into this issue.]
“Based on our CCTV footage, the license plate of the flagged down vehicle is protocol plate, and we are probing why the name of the Senator was being involved,” the MMDA said in a statement. “Likewise, the agency wanted to extend our apologies to the Senator pending the investigation.”
It said for now only authorized vehicles are allowed to use the bus carousel lane.
In a radio interview, MMDA Task Force Special Operations Unit Head Bong Nebrija said he did not personally see Revilla onboard the vehicle in question. He apologized to Revilla if the information was wrong.
The MMDA on Monday began enforcing higher fines for unauthorized vehicles caught passing through the bus carousel lane. The first offense gets a ₱5,000 fine, following offenses will be fines from ₱10,000 to ₱30,000 plus other penalties.
MMDA acting chairman Don Artes earlier said that he has only recommended that the president, vice president, House speaker, Senate president and chief justice be included in the EDSA bus lane exemptions.
