An official of the Land Transportation Office (LTO), which is one of the agencies under the Department of Transportation, was gunned down Friday night in Quezon City, police said.

Police, quoting a witness, said a man alighted from a motorcycle, drew out his pistol and shot Mercedita Gutierrez, chief of the LTO registration division, twice in the face and once in the body while she was inside her car.

The 64-year-old Gutierrez to lose control of the car she was driving and collide with a container van. The gunman, the witness told police, fell after riding his motorbike but recovered to flee. Gutierrez died at a hospital one hour after being shot.

The Land Transportation Office (LTO) on Saturday condemned the killing of one of its officials in an ambush in Quezon City on Friday night.

LTO Chief Assistant Secretary Vigor Mendoza II said this was ''a cowardly act.'' DMS