EDITORIAL - Longer wait

Approximately 1.7 million people have yet to receive their plastic driver’s license card. As often happens in this country, unfortunately, the wait is going to be longer as the contract for the production of the cards is now bogged down in litigation.

Last week, Judge Rafael Hipolito of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 215 issued a temporary restraining order on the award of the P240.12-million contract to Banner Plasticard Inc. The TRO favored petitioner AllCard Inc. owned by businesswoman Allieta Cue, which was disqualified from the bidding for the cards.

AllCard claimed it had submitted the lowest bid at P176.8 million. The Land Transportation Office and its mother agency the Department of Transportation allegedly gave weight to reports of delays in AllCard’s contracts with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Social Security System and Land Bank of the Philippines. AllCard claimed it was not given sufficient opportunity to address the reasons for its disqualification from the bidding.

Judge Hipolito agreed with this, and is set to hear the case beginning today. People waiting for their plastic driver’s license cards can only hope litigation isn’t going to crawl along leisurely, as is often the case in this country. Hipolito’s TRO is good for 20 days, but it can be extended over and over.

For many years now, motorists have also suffered interminable waits for motor vehicle license plates and registration stickers, as losing bidders turn to courts for intervention.

The DOTr had pointed out that the LTO under the previous management had submitted the terms of reference for the contract only in late March this year, with the pre-bidding conference held only in April. The LTO under its new management has said there is no basis for the TRO and the petitioners’ complaints can be addressed without the injunction.

About 100,000 cards have already been delivered under the contract with Banner, with about one million more set for delivery by the end of September, according to the LTO. If the delivery proceeds, the LTO sees an end to the plastic card backlog of 1.7 million by the end of the year.

The judiciary can do its part in ensuring adherence to laws and rules. While doing so, it should also be mindful of the need to resolve issues with dispatch. As the LTO pointed out, the greater public interest should prevail.