Nebrija suspended; MMDA chief apologizes personally to Revilla over EDSA busway issue

Task Force Special Operations (TFSO) chief Edison “Bong” Nebrija will no longer be seen on the streets starting Thursday, November 16 as he will be under preventive suspension after the bus lane incident that involved the name of Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr.

Nebrija, together with Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chair Romando Artes personally went to the Senate on Wednesday, to apologize to Revilla. The senator was looking for the traffic enforcer who allegedly identified him, but Nebrija mentioned that he would just take full responsibility for the mistake.

Revilla immediately talked with Nebrija, who he mentioned, should have verified first if it was, indeed, the senator who was inside the vehicle when it was flagged down for illegally using the EDSA Bus Lane. Revilla said that it was unfair to him.

“Unang-una hindi ko kotse yun, hindi ako gumagamit ng plaka na otso na may CA pa at 17th Congress daw. Yung asawa ko nakaupo sa CA pero hindi yung 17th Congress (First of all, it’s not my car. I don’t use the plate number 8 with CA on it from the 17th Congress. My wife is now in CA but she’s not from the 17th Congress),” Revilla said.

As per the account of Nebrija, who was not around when Revilla was supposedly apprehended for using the EDSA bus way, a traffic enforcer told him over the radio that the senator was on board, and his reply was to let Revilla go which was overheard by a reporter.

He added that he had no intention of ruining Revilla’s name, and that he made a decision based on the information that was provided to him by the traffic enforcer.

Nebrija, known for his intense crackdown against road violators, will be under preventive suspension pending the investigation of the matter for 15 days or a maximum of 30 days, according to Artes.

Revilla was irked on Wednesday after a report from the MMDA surfaced that he was apprehended using the EDSA carousel busway. He mentioned that there was absolutely no truth to it.

He explained that his daily commute was from the south to the Senate, and there was no way he was on EDSA in Mandaluyong.

“When attending to official functions in the north, I take the Skyway from and back to the south,” the senator said.

“Kung totoo man na may nasita silang gumagamit ng aking pangalan, dapat ay ginawa nila ang kanilang trabaho na tiniketan ang lumabag (If it’s real that they flagged someone using my name, they should do their job and issue a ticket to the one who violated the law),” he added.

Accepting both the apology of the Artes on behalf of MMDA and Nebrija, Revilla mentioned that he will no longer recall MMDA’s budget.