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Jose Art Tugade has stepped down as chief of the Land Transportation Office, citing differences with mother agency, Department of Transportation
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Tugade said he is stepping down to give Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista a free hand in choosing “who he can work best with”
- His resignation takes effect on June 1
Jose Art Tugade has stepped down as chief of the Land Transportation Office (LTO), citing differences with the Department of Transportation (DOTr), LTO’s mother agency.
“Even as DOTr and LTO both aim to succeed in serving the public, our methods to achieve that success differ. For this reason, I am stepping down, so Sec. Jimmy [Jaime] Bautista will have the free hand to choose who he can work best with,” Tugade said in a statement on May 22.
“I will continue to root for LTO’s success even as a private citizen, because I will always share in Sec. Bautista’s belief that our offices can be a formidable force for good in our country,” Tugade added. His resignation takes effect on June 1.
In a statement, Bautista said DOTr extends their “appreciation to Assistant Secretary Jose Arturo Tugade for his 7-month stint as Assistant Secretary of the Land Transportation Office.”
He added, “His pursuit of service innovations at LTO benefited the public, for which this office is grateful.”
The DOTr chief said they will submit to the Office of the President the recommendation of an LTO chief “who can display the same fervor, while aligning efforts to the mission of this Department.”
Appointed LTO chief in November 2022, Tugade faced issues with shortage of supply of plastic cards used for printing driver’s licenses.
Prior to his appointment, he was reported to have been assigned as general manager of the Manila International Airport Authority. The appointment did not materialize.
Tugade is the son of former Transport Secretary Arthur Tugade, who served from 2016 to June 2022.
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