Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 17) — Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel is seeking an investigation on the alleged “undue payment” given by the Land Transportation Office to its information technology provider and which was flagged by state auditors.
The resolution filed Tuesday directs the Senate Committee on Accountability of Public Officers and Investigations (Blue Ribbon) to “conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation” as regards the questionable transaction made by the LTO with the joint venture of Dermalog Identification Systems, Holy Family Printing Corp., Microgenesis and Verzontal Builders, Inc.
In its 2021 audit report for the Department of Transportation, the Commission on Audit flagged the “undue payment” given to the foreign contractor Dermalog which apparently did not fully provide its deliverables for a ₱3.19 billion Road IT Infrastructure Project.
The same report disclosed that all core applications were already settled although some of these have yet to accommodate certain LTO transactions, the resolution read.
These applications include the Driver’s Licensing System, and the Motor Vehicle Inspection and Registration System which are part of component A of the project also called the Land Transportation Management System.
In COA’s Dec. 9, 2021 review of Quality Assurance Reports, it noted there were 70 open issues still to be delivered by the contractor, Pimentel said.
Even prior to the acceptance of core applications by the LTO, there were already 25 existing issues reported which remained unresolved as of the said date, he added.
“This is disadvantageous to the government as the core applications were already paid when such have yet to function and operate as intended,” the senator pointed out.
The unresolved issues have apparently affected the operations of LTO sites, as reflected in the complaints over slow processing of documents, such as in getting and renewing driver’s license, and registering vehicles, all of which are associated to the new IT system, the document said.
LTO chief Teofilo Guadiz has acknowledged the problem in the system.
Getting a driver’s license now takes five to six days from only 2 hours, he earlier said. https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2022/8/5/LTO-IT-provider-long-queues.html
“It is a basic rule in procurement contracts that payment based on progress billing is allowed provided that the goods have been delivered or installed in accordance with the terms and conditions of the contract, and the same was duly inspected and accepted by procuring entity,” Pimentel noted.
Thus, it is important for LTO to explain the full payment made to its IT provider despite unresolved issues, which are now affecting its services. This is a clear violation of the procurement and auditing rules that put the government and the whole country on the disadvantage, he added.
