LTO chief denies allegations of corruption, betrayal of public trust

MANILA, Philippines —  Land Transportation Office (LTO) head Assistant Secretary Vigor Mendoza II on Tuesday refuted accusations of corruption and breach of public trust.

The allegations against the LTO chief came from two separate letters from several groups: one from the Coalition of Good Governance and the other from the Federated Land Transport Organizations of the Philippines, Konsumo Pinas, Magtulungan tayo, Philippine Transport Monitor, Samahan ng Kabataan para sa Kabuluhang Pagbabago, and Kamalaya Consumer Cooperative.

READ: Groups accuse LTO chief of corruption; DOTr’s Bautista wants explanation

“All the allegations that were raised in the paid advertisements are false and are plain and simple desperate effort to mislead and misinform the public for whatever reasons or personal agenda that they have,” Mendoza said in a statement.

“First, it is under my watch — and based on the instruction of PBBM (President Bongbong Marcos) and Sec JJB (DOTr Sec. Jaime Bautista) — that system glitches in all LTO digital transactions were properly addressed through the consolidation and migration to the new IT provider that was contracted by the government,” he added.

Mendoza was referring to the second group’s claim that he did not allegedly issue a memorandum to let the Land Transport Management System (LTMS) move forward.

He was also accused of not decommissioning the previous LTO IT system.

These, according to the letter, resulted in the public continuously paying computer fees to the previous IT provider.

“With the hard work of our IT experts, 97 percent of all vehicle transactions are now being processed under the LTMS while the LTO is now 100 percent in driver’s license transactions,” he said.

“We are heading towards a reliable digital infrastructure for all LTO transactions and we will not be distracted by these unfounded allegation,” Mendoza added.