3 nabbed for selling fake driver's license

By Dionisio Dennis, Jr.  

BAGUIO CITY – Three men were arrested in separate entrapment operations for allegedly selling fake drivers' licenses.

Police Master Sgt. Veronica Villareal, information officer of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-Cordillera, identified the suspects as Richard Allen Badua del Rio, 26; John Lawrence Fernandez Cercado, 22; and Vilmor Garcia Wakit, 25.

Del Rio and Cercado were arrested at Barangay San Vicente around noon August 5.

Wakit was arrested in a separate entrapment operation near his residence on the same day.

Villareal said several drivers sought their help after realizing that the licenses issued to them were fake.

The complainants said they thought they were dealing with a fixer at the Land Transportation Office (LTO) who can get them a license for P4,000, after they failed the LTO-facilitated examination for professional drivers.

Villareal said the drivers carry non-professional licenses but need to upgrade to a professional one as required of drivers who wanted to join ride-hailing firm Grab.

In an interview, del Rio and Cercado said they transacted with Wakit, who knows someone who manufactures fake licenses in Avenida, Manila.

"The victims came to us after seeing some of their drivers licenses which they suspected to be fake. We immediately coordinated with the Land Transportation Office-Cordillera to verify if they have records on the released driver's license. LTO-CAR said they don't have records so we conducted the entrapment operation," Villareal said.

Villareal said the suspects are facing charges for falsification of public document, estafa, and violation of the Land Transportation law.

LTO-CAR regional director Francis Rae Almora encouraged other victims to file complaints against the suspects.

He appealed to the public to transact only at the LTO office and follow the legal way of acquiring a driver's license. (PNA)