MANILA (2ND UPDATE) — The Land Transportation Office on Wednesday said it had identified the owner of the sports utility vehicle with protocol plate no. 7, which illegally used EDSA Busway last weekend.

LTO chief Assistant Secretary Vigor Mendoza II said the vehicle was registered under the Orient Pacific Corporation. 

Its driver, identified as Angelito Edpan, apologized for the Nov. 3 traffic violation that went viral on social media. 

"Ako po ay nagkasala sa paglabag sa regulasyon na pumasok po ako sa EDSA [Busway]... Ako po ay humihingi ng pasensya... Hindi ko po ninais na makasakit sa enforcer na pumara sa akin," he said in a press conference.

(I apologize for violating the regulation by entering the EDSA [Busway]… I ask for your forgiveness… I did not intend to harm the enforcer who flagged me down.)

Omar Guinomla, director of the Orient Pacific Corporation, also apologized for the incident and said the company would cooperate with the LTO investigation.

When asked how the corporation obtained a number 7 plate, which is reserved for senators, he only said the firm had an ongoing internal investigation regarding this.

"We came here to apologize to LTO and sa mga (inaudible) because of the incident. Our driver si Lito - hindi po namin ginusto yun, rest assure we will cooperate. Meron din kaming internal investigation," said Guinomla. 

TIES TO PUBLIC FIGURE?

The LTO earlier said no senator had any registered Cadillac Escalade similar to the one that illegally used the EDSA busway.

When pressed if the Orient Pacific Corp. was connected to any public figure, its lawyer Maria Julieta Santos said they could not confirm the names of the directors and stockholders. 

"As of the moment we cannot confirm the names of the directors and stockholders maybe found in the SEC its a public record and right now we are not authorized to divulge their names due to their rights also - privacy po ... But it's available, if you want to take a look at the names of the directors," she said during the press conference. 

Based on the SEC documents obtained by ABS-CBN News, Orient Pacific Corp 1 listed a certain William Gatchalian as its President and Chairman, Dee Hua Gatchalian as its Corporate Treasurer and Kenneth Gatchalian as its Vice President, among others. The document was dated June 2007. 

Orient Pacific Corp 2, meanwhile, listed a certain Kenneth Gatchalian as its President, Elvira Ting as its Chairman, Dee Hua Gatchalian as its Corporate Treasurer and Omar Guinomla as its Assistant Corporate Secretary, among others.

Senator Win Gatchalian has yet to issue a statement.

Edpan, the driver who has been with the company for around 2 years, said no one instructed him to use the EDSA Busway. 

He said he had tried to enter the lane thinking no one would notice since it was a Sunday. He also mentioned that he was experiencing stomachache at the time.

"Wala po nag-utos sakin sir, Linggo po yun sir, akala ko puwede ako makapasok, kasi nagmamdali po ako sir. sumasakit kasi tyan ko sir, medyo not feeling well ako sir eh kaya gusto kong sumubok na dumaan dun sir," said Edpan.

He said he did not know the identities of the guests who were on board the SUV and added that he had no knowledge of who installed the number 7 plate.

"Sir, pinahatid lang po sakin yung bisita po, hindi ko po kasi alam… Pini-pickup namin, hindi rin po kami nagtatanong kung sino sila. Hindi namin kilala kasi driver lang po ako," he added.

The company representative, Guinomla, said the vehicle is used to ferry investors to various investment sites.

The LTO has confiscated the license driver of Edpan who is now facing multiple traffic violations. 

Francis Ray Almora, director of LTO’s Law Enforcement Service Department added that the SUV driver needs to pay P9,000 . 

"Ito po yung registration - OR/CR ng sasakyan. Wala pong violation/dun sa registration at this point yun na lang pong sa driver. Yun pong driver, titiketan po natin siya," Almora said. 

According to Almora, Edpan needs to pay P1,000 for disregarding traffic sign when he entered EDSA busway, P2,000 for the first offense of being a reckless driver, P5,000 for illegal use of protocol plate number 7 which according to LTO is fake and another P1,000 for his failure to attach the regular plate. 

The LTO said it will also issue show cause order to the registered owner of the SUV.