SUSPENDED Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) Chairman Teofilo Guadiz III said he has forgiven his former aide, Jeffrey Tumbado, who accused him of corruption but later recanted his baseless allegations.

Guadiz said he will no longer press libel charges against Tumbado, who profusely apologized to him after recanting his corruption allegation to Guadiz.

“I have already forgiven Jeffrey. Kung Diyos nga nagpapatawad, ako pa kaya. He apologized to me repeatedly after realizing that he made a mistake. I will not file libel charges against him. I have already forgiven him. Jeffrey already said sorry and, for me, that’s more than enough,” he added.

According to the suspended LTFRB chief, Tumbado got mad at him after he got demoted due to his attitude problem at work. Allegedly put of spite, the former aide made fabricated accusations to besmirch the impeccable record of the LTFRB chairman.

After hearing Tumbado’s allegations, Guadiz said he was shocked and needed the time to process the baseless allegations lodged against him. The suspended chairman said he was in an official meeting with transport groups when he was accused.

“I never saw this coming; I treated him as if he is part of my family member… I needed time to process it, I was so shocked because I know that I did nothing wrong,” he said.

Guadiz said Tumbado immediately apologized to him a day after he made the baseless accusations against the LTFRB chief.

After recanting his accusations on October 11, the LTFRB chairman said Tumbado apologized once again the next day to express that he was very sorry for what he did.

“Jeffrey apologized twice to me. Paulit-ulit niyang sinasabi na mali ang ginawa niya. He was very sorry. Ako naman, I told him na pinapatawad ko na siya,” he said.

Guadiz, known as “Tatang” or father in the LTO, is very well-loved by employees because of his very fatherly nature of treating the people he works with as his family.

Most of the transport groups are backing Guadiz as they know that what Tumbado told the media were all lies. They even released a manifesto to support to back the LTFRB chairman.

“Iyong mga pinaka malaking transport groups and I would say 95% of the transport groups ay nag-issue na ng manifesto na sinusuportahan tayo sa ating krusada,” Guadiz said.

The LTFRB chairman said he respects the decision of President Bongbong Marcos to suspend him.

“Noong ako ho ay sinuspinde ay biglaan po ‘yun, at ginagalang ko naman po ang desisyon ng ating Pangulo. Kay Secretary Bautista po, hindi pa rin po ako nagpupunta sa kanya dahil unang-una po, paglabas ng balita ay ako po ay nabigla, hindi ko po alam kung papaano mag-react. At hindi ko po ma-absorb ‘yung mga bintang na ganoon, dahil sa 23 years ko po sa public service, ngayon lang ako napagbintangan ng ganito,” he said.

Should he be reinstated by the President, Guadiz said he would prove to the public that all the allegations against him are nothing but lies fabricated by a disgruntled employee.

On October 11, Tumbado recanted his allegations against Guadiz, saying everything he said were “borne out of impulse, irrational thinking, misjudgment, poor decision making and was encouraged by some individuals to make the statement…”

President Bongbong Marcos ordered the suspension of Guadiz over the baseless allegations of Tumbado on Oct. 9, pending a probe if there is any truth in the accusations.