LTO contractor denies link to poorly made driver's licenses

MANILA, Philippines - The compuetrization contractor of the Land Transportation Office (LTO), Stradcom Corp., denied yesterday its involvement in the supply, production and delivery of driver’s licenses issued by the agency to motorists.

Stradcom, in an official statement, said Amalgamated Motors Inc. has been printing driver’s licenses since 1984. Stradcom said it became the exclusive IT provider of the LTO in 1998 and is “responsible for the design, installation, operation and maintenance of the entire information and database system of the LTO.”

The printing of driver’s license cards “has never been part of the existing build own and operate contract between the LTO and Stradcom.”

The LTO drew flak last year over complaints made by motorists over the poor quality of the plastic cards issued to them with many fading and cracking before the expiration of the validity of the licenses.

The issue was revived when the LTO moved to bid out the printing of driver’s license cards. Critics say the bidding criteria seem to favor only one supplier.