LTO won’t end LTMS contract with IT provider: We can’t handle it ourselves

LTO / Dermalog

MANILA, Philippines — The Land Transportation Office (LTO) has brushed off suggestions to dismiss its contract with an information technology (IT) service provider for the Land Transportation Management System (LTMS), as the agency cannot handle operations by itself.

During the hearing of the House of Representatives’ committee on transportation, chairperson and Antipolo 2nd District Rep. Romeo Acop asked if LTO should just run the LTMS on its own.

The LTMS is a system used for registration of motor vehicles, and the processing of driver’s licenses.  According to LTO chief and Transportation Assistant Secretary Vigor Mendoza, the agency currently does not have the capability to take over the LTMS.

“We cannot on our own run the system without the assistance of our IT service provider Dermalog,” Mendoza said on Monday, referring to the German company that entered into a contract with LTO in 2018 to develop and manage LTMS.

While the government now owns the LTMS, Dermalog still operates the system.  However, there were calls to replace Dermalog after a Commission on Audit (COA) report showed that LTO supposedly gave “undue payment” to the company, despite an alleged incomplete turnover of deliverables for the P3.19-billion Road IT Infrastructure project.

The said project was awarded in 2018 to Dermalog and other companies in the joint venture, namely Holy Family Printing Corp., Microgenesis and Verzontal Builders, Inc.

READ: Pimentel seeks Senate probe on LTO’s ‘undue payment’ to IT provider 

Mendoza said the LTO does not yet have the sufficient IT expertise to control the LTMS.

“I assure you, Mr. Chairman, that our position is in the best interest of the government. We can explain it in a closed-door session because of the presence of parties here that are litigants in a case pending in the Supreme Court (involving the contract),” Mendoza said.

When asked if other IT companies cannot do the job of Dermalog, Mendoza said that they would still have to check on the records of these companies — including one that was supposedly marred by inconsistencies.

“We will have to validate their capability to walk the talk,” Mendoza said.

READ: DOJ dismisses qualified theft case vs IT contractor 

Transportation Undersecretary Reinier Paul Yebra also said that the DOTr was more interested in efficient service.

“This is a contract between LTO and its IT provider. As the mother agency and per the directive of Secretary Jaime Bautista, we want to ensure that there is no disruption to their service to the public,” Yebra said.

The lawmakers was referring to Stradcom, another IT company that the LTO transacted in the past.  However, LTO has complained that Stradcom failed to turn over to LTO the data collected during the contract period.