Lawmaker wants LTO's IT project junked

It seems that congressmen have started turning the tables on Land Transportation Office (LTO) chief Alberto Suansing, who figured in a short-lived quarrel with them over abuses in the use of congressional protocol “8” plates.

Yesterday, Agusan del Sur Rep. Rodolfo Plaza asked the House good government committee yesterday to look into the LTO’s computerization project and to eventually recommend its cancellation.

In Resolution 803, Plaza said LTO officials failed to protect the interest of the public when they entered into a contract with Stradcom Corp. for the computerization of their offices and services related to the registration of motor vehicles.

“This contract is disadvantageous to the government as this would not provide project continuity since at the end of the 10-year concession period, only the database will be owned by LTO while the computer equipment and application systems would remain with the project proponent,” he said.

He said the equipment and application systems should become LTO property at the end of the contract period since these would have been paid for by motor vehicle owners and other people transacting business with LTO.

He pointed out that while the LTO collects computerization fees for Stradcom, the latter does not share such fees with Suansing’s agency.

“This contract must be cancelled and those responsible for it should be charged in court for malfeasance, misfeasance and/or nonfeasance,” he added.

Plaza noted that in fairness to Suan­sing, he was not the one who signed the contract since the project was started in 2002 during the time of then LTO chief Roberto Lastimoso.

Reached for comment, Suansing confirmed Plaza’s information that Stradcom would not transfer its computer equipment and system applications to LTO at the end of the 10-year contract.

“This is a build-operate-own arrangement. What they will give us is only a CD (compact disk) containing our database,” he said, but refused to comment on whether or not the contract is disadvantageous to the government.

He said every motor vehicle owner pays a computerization fee of P55 that goes to Stradcorm whenever he registers his vehicle.

This is separate from the fee Stradcom gets for driver’s licenses and other services, like insurance verification.

He could not say how much LTO remits to Stradcom per year but estimated that the fees could reach hundreds of millions of pesos. There are four million to five million motor vehicles in the country.

Another anomaly at LTO?

Meanwhile, Suansing is investigating reports that applicants for driver’s licenses pay off license testing centers to pass the written test.

“I have received reports that flunkers in the written examination still manage to upgrade their student permits to regular non professional driver’s license,” he told The STAR.

Suansing said before a student permit is upgraded to a driver’s license applicants must pass the written test, which includes road courtesy, defensive driving, traffic signs and traffic laws and regulations.

Before the actual test, applicants are given lectures and provided with review materials. Despite the refresher course, some applicants still flunk the written test.

The LTO gives flunkers one month to review before he or she can take the test again.           – With Perseus Echeminada