Land Transportation Office (LTO) head Virginia Torres on Monday described as “a demolition job" a police report linking her to carnapping operations. In an interview aired over GMA News’ “24 Oras," Torres, who is reportedly close with President Benigno Aquino III, said those affected by the reforms she is implementing in the LTO may have been spreading the misinformation. “Once you’re in the government and you’re making reforms, you should expect a demolition job against you," she told GMA News reporter Chino Gaston. She was reacting to a Philippine Daily Inquirer report on the complaint lodged against her and 25 others in 2009 when she was still LTO chief in Tarlac province for allegedly facilitating the registration of a stolen 1990 Mitsubishi Pajero.
The information came from a Feb. 2 report prepared by Chief Superintendent Leonardo Espina, head of the Philippine National Police-Highway Patrol Group (PNP-HPG). Torres, who was LTO chief in Tarlac from 2003 to 2010, supposedly violated Article 171 of the Revised Penal Code, which prohibits public officers from falsifying documents. Torres was quoted in the television report as saying that she was unaware of the questionable registration of the Pajero when she signed the documents. She noted that based on the original receipt and certificate of registration, the vehicle had previously been registered in Tarlac in 1999, four years before she took office. Justice Secretary Leila de Lima earlier in the day said she has
ordered department prosecutors to fast-track the resolution of the two-year-old case against Torres. Malacañang, meanwhile, said it is considering Torres innocent until proven guilty by the court. The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) are currently conducting a joint investigation into the alleged ties between car theft syndicates and LTO and police officials.
— KBK, GMA News 
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