Motorcyclist dies after ‘chase’ with LTO personnel

PERSONNEL from the Land Transportation Office (LTO) are set to face charges after a 69-year-old motorcycle driver died when they allegedly chased him in Barangay South Poblacion, City of Naga on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023.

The family of Julian Canalita Jr. vowed to seek justice for his untimely death.

Jade Canalita, Julian’s son, told SunStar Cebu Wednesday night that LTO personnel were reportedly chasing another vehicle at a checkpoint they set up when they spotted Julian, who was driving his motorcycle without a license plate.

According to Jade, the LTO personnel then started chasing his father, which forced his father to speed off on his motorcycle for fear of being apprehended.

Jade said his father had not yet received his license plate as they had purchased the motorcycle only a month ago.

Jade claimed that Julian’s motorcycle crashed when the LTO’s service vehicle stayed close by his side.

He also claimed that LTO personnel abandoned his father at the crash site.

The incident reportedly happened in an area just about a kilometer away from where the victim lived.

When they found out about what had happened to their father, Jade and one of his siblings immediately went to the area where Julian’s motorcycle had crashed.

When they got there, Jade said they found LTO personnel waiting there and about to take his father’s bag away.

Jade and his sibling argued with the LTO personnel to give them the bag as it contained only cash and documents.

Julian was brought to the Cebu South Medical Center in Talisay City, but he died on the same day. According to his death certificate, Julian died after his right leg got broken.

‘Self-accident’

Separately, Lt. Col. Junnel Caadlawon, chief of the City of Naga Police Station, told SunStar Cebu that Julian’s death was a result of a “self-accident.”

Caadlawon said they learned about the incident after emergency personnel who responded to Julian’s accident reported the matter to them.

During their investigation, Caadlawon’s investigators said Julian was reportedly driving at high speeds minutes before the accident happened.

Caadlawon, however, was not aware that Julian was being chased at the time of the accident.

He was, however, aware that a government agency was conducting checkpoints in the area.

LTO’s response

In a statement sent on Thursday, Feb. 23, LTO Central Visayas Director Victor Caindec described the allegation against his personnel as “serious.”

“I am making sure that the agency is on a proper legal footing since the family has said they’ll file charges. So far, the reports we have on hand from the PNP (Philippine National Police) depicted the incident as a self-accident,” Caindec said.

Meanwhile, the LTO 7 acting chief for operations Aden Belza has sent a letter to Caadlawon and Julian’s surviving kin to a meeting with Caindec on Friday, Feb. 24, at his office in Mandaue City. (BBT / PAC / TPT)