DOTC bids out license card deal

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is seeking bids for the P450-million driver’s license project amid a shortage of license cards.

In a statement yesterday, the DOTC said the project is expected to address the shortage of cards in various offices of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) nationwide and “to stabilize supply by the third quarter of 2015.”

Interested firms should have bids not exceeding P90.09 per license card.

Firms that would bid for the project should also be able to deliver the goods within 30 calendar days from the issuance of Notice to Proceed, targeted in July.

The deadline for submission of bids is on April 20.

Given the urgent need for license cards, the DOTC said it “hopes that this time around, the project will not be stopped by judicial orders.”

The DOTC and the LTO had sought to bid out the project in December 2010 with the intention of having a proper contract in line with promoting good governance. But this was prevented by an injunction order issued by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) in February 2011.

In a recent interview, LTO spokesman Jason Salvador said the Amalgamated Motors Philippines, Inc. (AMPI), which has been the supplier of license cards “for the longest time,” failed to deliver the items as they were affected by port congestion.

Salvador, however, clarified that the AMPI has no existing contract with the LTO.

AMPI was awarded a five-year contract by the government in 1984. Upon expiration of the contract in 1989, the government extended the arrangement on a yearly basis until 2006.

While there is no contract, the government continued payments to AMPI on a quantum merit basis, or in sums equivalent to the goods delivered.

 In 2012, another injunction order was issued by the Quezon City RTC, following a case filed by AMPI, which questioned the DOTC’s conduct of bidding.

While the Court of Appeals has lifted the injunction orders, the Commission on Audit has prevented further payments to AMPI without a valid contract procured under applicable rules.

The budget deliberation of the DOTC in October last year showed that the LTO was paying AMPI “millions of pesos” annually for more than 24 years despite the absence of a valid contract.