INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Amid a continued shortage of driver’s license cards, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) appealed to the public not to resort to counterfeit or illegally obtained cards.
This developed after motoring magazine Topgear Philippines reported on Thursday a Facebook post claiming to sell “legitimate” professional driver’s licenses, allegedly issued by the LTO central office and complete with receipts, for P1,500. The advertisement was made on Facebook account “Iloilo BMX” by a user named “Trendisitas Trendsandmore.”
But in a phone interview, LTO spokesperson Jason Salvador denied that the LTO was selling driver’s licenses online. “It’s not from us,” Salvador said.
“We will instruct our people in that region [Iloilo] to look into it. We do not tolerate this and we are investigating it. We are pleading to the public that if you know anything about this, don’t tolerate it. Report to us directly so we can investigate it,” Salvador said.
Salvador pointed out that fake cards would be easily caught. “We have several security features [on the cards]. We can’t reveal all, but we have the regular ones—watermarks, the colors used. The final check is, it should be in our data base,” Salvador said.
Salvador warned that driving without a valid driver’s license could merit a P3,000 fine and a yearlong license suspension, aside from possible criminal complaints.
Meanwhile, Salvador assured the public that the bidding process has started for a new supplier for driver’s license cards. Salvador said that as of May 20, the bidding process was already in the “post-qualification stage.” He said that four companies, including the LTO’s former supplier Amalgamated Motors Philippines Inc. (AMPI), is participating in the bidding.
Salvador admitted that the shortage has been going on for years, as “our supplier, AMPI, was affected by the port congestion in Manila.”
He added that in 2014, the Commission on Audit also issued a disallowance order against the LTO’s agreement with AMPI, since it did not have a valid contract.
In a press statement last March 26, the Department of Transportation and Communication explained that AMPI was awarded a five-year contract in 1984, but upon its expiration, the government simply extended the arrangement until 2006.
“Since 2006, there has been no contractual relationship, but the government has continued paying AMPI….in sums equivalent to the goods delivered,” the DOTC statement read.
But when the DOTC and the LTO sought to bid the project out in 2010, AMPI started filing cases questioning the bidding. AMPI was able to obtain injunction orders in 2010 and 2012. The Court of Appeals eventually lifted both orders.
While the bidding process for a new supplier is underway, the LTO has been issuing temporary driver’s licenses in paper form. In March, recognizing the continued shortage of the license cards, the LTO lifted the 150-day validity period of the temporary licenses.
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