DOTC allows 3rd group to bid for LTO-IT project

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has allowed a third group to bid for the P3.4-billion Road Transportation Information Technology Infrastructure.

The DOTC has allowed the Avesco Marketing Corp.-Sung Gwang Co. Ltd. joint venture to present its proof of concept for the DOTC-LTO Information Technology project, bringing to three the number of bidders.

The joint bids and awards committee of the DOTC and LTO earlier allowed the joint venture consisting of Kaisa Consulting Co. Inc., FPT Information Systems Corp. and NTT Data Corp. as well as the tandem of Indra Sistemas S.A. and Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. of infrastructure giant Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) to present their proof of concept.

The three firms presented their respective Proofs of Concept for the Driver’s Licensing System and Motor Vehicle Registration System to the BAC last week.

A total of nine groups submitted bids for the project last March 30. Using the non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion mandated by the procurement law, the agency’s BAC declared the two bidders eligible for the project.

The seven other groups were declared ineligible for failure to comply with various requirements of the procurement law and bidding rules.

Aside from the Avesco - Sun Gwang joint venture, other disqualified bidders include the tandem of Omniprime Marketing and Heitech Padu Berhad;

The Strategic Planning, Applied Management Konsult Inc. and Accesos Holograficos SS de CV Joint Venture; Infotech Global Pte. Ltd.-Infotech Private Limited Joint Venture; The Oberthur Technologies-Comfac Corporation Joint Venture; The NPMI-NEC Joint Venture; and The Joint Venture of DVK Philippines Enterprises and Leidos Holdings, Inc.

The Avesco-Sung Gwang JV was later declared eligible after the BAC granted its motion for reconsideration.

The BAC and its Technical Working Group are now carefully studying all the proposals and submissions of the bidders to determine which bids are responsive to all requirements under the law and of the DOTC-LTO.

Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said the project would result in much-improved services at the LTO beginning in the third quarter of 2015.

Abaya added that the DOTC aims to have the entire LTO IT project fully operational by the third quarter of 2015 to deliver more user-friendly, convenient services to the public.

“This project aims to make dealing with the LTO more convenient and efficient for the public.  Unnecessary steps will be cut out, online transactions will be enabled, and human intervention will be minimized in order to curb corrupt,” Abaya stressed.

The project only covers the software and data center components of the P 8.2-billion LTO IT project originally bid out in 2012.