DOTC says to appeal RTC injunction of LTO-IT project bidding

Road in Pasay City. Photo by Dennis D. Estopace

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), through the Office of the Solicitor General, will elevate before the Court of Appeals the issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction by a Quezon City court in relation to the bidding of the new LTO IT system.

The injunction issued by Branch 96 of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court unlawfully enlarged the earlier injunction issued in a case filed by Realtime Data Management Services Inc. and Amalgamated Motors Philippines Inc. (AMPI) involving the bidding of a different project for the supply and delivery of driver’s license cards to LTO as a result of DOTC Special Order No. 2011-181 and Department Order No. 2010-36.

The court enjoined DOTC “from proceeding with the bidding under the new Invitation to Bid by reason of Special Order No. 2011-181,” which affects the DOTC-LTO’s bidding process for the new IT system.

According to the OSG: “The decision made by Judge Afable Cajigal of RTC-Branch 96 was an outrageous and flagrant violation of Republic Act No. 8975, which prohibits the issuance by lower courts of orders of injunction, among others, against national government infrastructure projects.”

It said its main aim is to implement a clean, open and transparent bidding process by inviting all interested and qualified local and foreign organizations to bid for the new contract.

The DOTC already started the bidding process for the P8.2B LTO-IT project in anticipation for the expiration of the contract with Stradcom Corp. in February next year. The new IT system will provide a viable and long-term solution to address the previous system’s issues.

Under the present automation set-up of the LTO, key data such as vehicle registration are handled by a third-party provider and not by the government.  The 13-year old LTO IT system is no longer responsive to current land transportation regulation requirements.

For more than a decade, the weaknesses, loopholes, and oversights of the original contract have become evident. More importantly, the government does not own the system, does not hold the data, and had to pass through a third party solutions provider to access the data.

The new LTO-IT system once in place will make it easier for authorities to access relevant vehicle information specially in tracing stolen vehicles.  The system will interface seamlessly with another Road Transportation IT Infrastructure Project phase, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board component.

Once the automation systems of LTO and LTFRB are up and running, the government will be able to eliminate cases of PUVs securing an LTFRB franchise without LTO registration, as well as PUVs that are registered with the LTO but has no LTFRB franchise.