Bus lane violator claims to be general’s niece

April 13, 2024 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — A motorist who claimed to be a niece of a general refused to have her driver’s license checked and sped away after she was caught illegally using the exclusive EDSA bus lane on Thursday.

Enforcers from the Department of Transportation’s Special Action and Intelligence Committee for Transportation pulled over a black Toyota Fortuner near the Guadalupe station of the busway’s southbound lane at 6:35 p.m., according to a report from the DOTr-SAICT.

The report said the vehicle’s license plate bore the letters NHJ but did not mention the four  digits. However, a four-minute video posted on the SAICT’s Facebook account showed the vehicle’s conduction sticker, Z4 N317. The driver’s face and the vehicle’s license plate were blurred out.

Just as an enforcer was about to ask for the driver’s license, the woman – said to be in her 40s and an American citizen – told him she was a “niece of Maj. Gen. Mario Reyes.”

The Philippine National Police’s Directorate for Logistics is headed by Reyes, who has refused to confirm the motorist’s claim.

According to the SAICT, the driver introduced herself as “Major Miguel” who works at the Intelligence Services of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and that she is involved in the annual Balikatan military exercises.

When asked for her driver’s license, she refused to hand it to the enforcer and instead demanded that she be issued a traffic violation ticket.

 The SAICT said the woman “verbally abused” the team of enforcers from the SAICT, Philippine Coast Guard and police Highway Patrol Group before she “sped away.”

 The Land Transportation Office is set to issue a show-cause order to compel the driver to explain.