MANILA, Philippines — Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairperson Romando Artes clarified today, July 16, that Gabriel Go, the head of the agency’s Special Operations Group–Task Force for Road Clearing, has not been suspended as an MMDA employee.
According to Artes, Go has only been temporarily barred from participating in clearing operations while the investigation against him is ongoing.
This controversy stemmed from a viral video in which Go flagged down and cited a teacher who was riding a motorcycle without a helmet. The video showed that despite the teacher’s plea not to be recorded or uploaded, Go just told the teacher that his face will be blurred, and still shared it on his personal social media account.
Because of this, Go faced heavy criticism from the public, as well as from some lawmakers. One of them is ACT Teachers Partylist Representative and Deputy Minority Leader Antonio Tinio, who stated that simply barring Go from joining clearing operations is not enough, and that he should instead be permanently removed from his position.
While the lawmaker does not question that the teacher violated the law, he emphasized that law enforcers should set an example in showing respect to the public.
“Dapat nang sibakin itong si Gabriel Go.. Dahil binastos niya ‘yong teacher, isang mamamayan na dapat pinaglilingkuran ng mga law enforcer nang may respeto at paggalang kahit pa may nilabag,” said Tinio.
It can be recalled that last year, Go was involved in a similar case where he issued a formal apology to the Philippine National Police and to Captain Erik Felipe, after he went viral for publicly humiliating the police officer on March 25, 2025, in Quezon City.
In his press release, Tinio warned that the House of Representatives will not let this pass. The Makabayan bloc plans to file a formal investigation after the State of the Nation Address (SONA). — Shey Valino, Contributor