In less than a month, Atty. Jose Arturo Tugade has a new office under the agency once led by his father, Arthur Tugade.

Jose Arturo is now the Land Transportation Office (LTO) chief, replacing Teofilo Guadiz III, who was plucked from the agency’s regional office.

Guadiz' press team sent two press releases Monday morning on how he would lead the controversy-ridden agency into the digital age.

In the afternoon, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) announced that Jose Arturo is taking the reins of the LTO. Guadiz will be given a new post as Assistant Secretary of the DOTr Road Sector.

In a statement, Transport chief Jaime Bautista said that Tugade is “best suited” for the “very challenging job” at the LTO.

“With his experience in management and litigation, I believe that he will make a difference in the LTO with the many problems and controversies being faced by the agency. When I talked to Atty Tugade after the announcement, we both discussed how we can better serve the DOTr. It was then that we realized that he is better suited to the LTO,” Bautista’s official statement to the press read.

"We immediately asked the indulgence of the President and explained the gravity of the situation in the LTO and the importance of the work that has to be done as well as the willingness of Atty J Art to do it. In the end, the President understood the situation," he added.

Tugade was appointed as the acting General Manager of the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) on October 21, supposedly replacing Cesar Chiong.

Chiong took oath on July 21, along with other aviation officials. He used to work with DOTr chief Bautista at the Philippine Airlines as officer-in-charge for domestic operations.

In an LTO’s regional directors meeting November 11, Sec Bautista said Chiong is MIAA General Manager saying “tapos na yung ‘usapan na yan.”

“Tapos na yung usapan na ‘yan.”

Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista says Cesar Chiong is MIAA General Manager.

Office of the Press Secretary confirmed in Oct 26 that Jose Arturo Tugade, son of ex-DOTr chief, is acting MIAA GM. pic.twitter.com/wItekI0M8c

— Jacque Manabat (@jacquemanabat) November 11, 2022

Tugade’s communications team also sent a press release stating that the new LTO chief aims to promote intensified road safety campaign and stamp out corruption through digitalization.

“We will take steps to improve transparency and reduce, if not eliminate, human intervention. To this end, we shall exert all efforts to digitalize our agency,” Tugade said.

Tugade graduated with a Bachelor of Law from San Beda College Manila in 2010. He spent his undergraduate years at the same school where he graduated valedictorian with a Bachelor of Arts and Science in Business Management and Entrepreneurship in 2003.