By Pearl Gumapos
Two fixers on Friday were caught outside the Marikina Land Transportation Office (LTO) in a joint entrapment operation launched by operatives of the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG).
A fixer is a person who uses influence or makes arrangements for another, especially by improper or unlawful means.
The operation stemmed from an anonymous complaint received by ARTA this month, saying that a number of fixers have proliferated outside the ARTA office.
The ARTA operatives were deployed to survey the area on June 22.
The two fixers identified as Rodeilo Godoy and Toselle Torres, who are both insurance agents, approached an ARTA agent to offer their illegal services.
The two fixers offered to fix the agent’s student permit in exchange for P5,500.
The said permit originally costs P2,300.
The ARTA agent, Godoy, and Torres met up in an insurance company in front of the Marikina LTO on June 25.
The fixers made the agent fill out a form and pay the requested amount. They were then arrested after.
Godoy and Torres are now under the custody of CIDG and will be facing charges for violation of Republic Act No. 11032 or the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018. – rir
