SENATOR Ramon ‘Bong’ Revilla, Jr. (left) shakes hands with Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Task Force Special Operations Unit head, Edison ‘Bong’ Nebrija, at the Senate on Wednesday. Moments before this, acting MMDA chairman Romando S. Artes (middle) announced Mr. Nebrija’s suspension, pending an investigation into the ‘wrongful naming’ of the senator as the passenger of a vehicle that violated the exclusive buslane of EDSA in Pasay City. — PHILIPPINE STAR/JESSE BUSTOS

THE METROPOLITAN Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said on Wednesday that it would thoroughly investigate the vehicle that wrongfully used the EDSA bus carousel on the alleged pretense that Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Jr. was on board. 
Facing the media at the Senate, Mr. Revilla, Jr. disputed the initial report quoting MMDA Task Force Special Operations chief Bong Nebrija, and stated that he was wrongfully identified as the person in the vehicle. 
On the same day, the MMDA leadership placed Mr. Nebrija under suspension, pending investigation into the incident.  

In the same media forum, Mr. Nebrija clarified that he mentioned Mr. Revilla’s name in his initial report, despite not personally seeing the senator in the convoy because it was the name provided to him by one of the enforcers. 

“It was not our intention to defame Senator Bong Revilla… It’s just that your name was the one that was passed on,” said Mr. Nebrija in Filipino. “Please forgive us, senator; it was not our intention to discredit you.” 

In a confrontation, Mr. Revilla told the MMDA chief to not drag a senator’s name on allegations based on hearsay. 

“Don’t you have a body camera, 60,000 (pesos) per camera? Then you’ll believe in hearsay, and you’ll mention it in the media? Then you’ll name-drop a senator. You’re not sure, just hearsay,” the senator told Mr. Nebrija. 

“We’ve been following traffic laws. I’ve been through a lot in life, and you’ll just ruin it like that?” added the senator. 

In a statement, the MMDA said that the license plate of the apprehended vehicle bears a low-numbered “protocol” plate which the Land Transportation Office only issues to high-ranking government officials.  

“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. 

The MMDA said that only authorized vehicles such as public utility buses, emergency vehicles, and clearly-marked government vehicles responding to emergencies, are allowed to take the EDSA Bus Carousel lane. — Jomel R. Paguian

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