Senate probes LTO’s P3.15 billion IT deal

MANILA, Philippines — The Senate has summoned the former heads of the Land Transportation Office and officials of the German contractor Dermalog over an allegedly anomalous P3.15 billion contract that was partially paid by the government despite glitches in the LTO’s IT project.

Sen. Francis Tolentiono, who chairs the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, summoned the officials who were not present in yesterday’s hearing looking into the supposed anomalies involving the P2.311 billion “undue payments” to joint venture Dermalog Identification Systems, Holy Family Printing and Microgenesis as well as Verzontal Builders in the implementation of the Land Transportation Management System (LTMS).

The Commission on Audit (COA), in a 2021 report, flagged the advance payments despite pending pilot testing and lack of configuration of some core applications into the LTMS such as driver’s license renewals and motor vehicle registration.

During the hearing, Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Jaime Bautista denied the “advance payments,” saying these were payment dues required in the contract “based on certain milestones,” referring to the LTO transactions that are configured in the system.

From the P1.775 billion undue payments made from 2019 to 2021 questioned by the COA, the payments have reached P2.311 billion, with the last payment made on June 30 last year, according to Bautista.

LTO officer-in-charge Hector Villacorta and former LTO chief and now Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board Chairman Teofilo Guadiz III were present during the Senate probe.

Former LTO chief Jay Art Tugade, who resigned last month due to differences with Bautista, did not attend the hearing.

German officials from Dermalog also snubbed the hearing despite an invitation from the Senate, only sending a lawyer to represent them.

Sen. Grace Poe, chairperson of the Senate public services panel, said Villacorta was pushed into the “snake pit” in the LTO, left behind by his predecessors.

Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III scored the DOTr for not putting their feet down on the LTO’s allegedly graft-ridden project.

Villacorta, who was named LTO caretaker after Tugade’s resignation, admitted that he regretted taking on the post as he deals with fixing the problem in shortage of license plates and cards.

The LTO’s backlog on driver’s license cards has jumped to 690,000, from 234,149 yet to be issued license cards last month.

There are only 70,000 available license cards nationwide reserved for overseas Filipino workers, Bautista said.