Stradcom: COA findings ‘patently false’

Stradcom Corp., the information technology service provider of the Land Transportation Office (LTO), is questioning the Commission on Audit (COA) report that said it had used the LTO’s database without authorization.

In a statement, Stradcom said COA’s findings contained in its 2010 audit report on the LTO were “patently false.”

The COA report had stated that Stradcom earned P2 billion from its interconnectivity deals with other government agencies using the LTO database without authority and that the LTO did not get a share from Stradcom’s earnings from these projects.

Stradcom president Cezar Quiambao countered that the LTO had mandated Stradcom to open the LTO database for interconnectivity with other government agencies.

Quiambao said COA could have been given malicious information by those who wanted to grab Stradcom’s contract with the LTO.

“Stradcom has always operated legally, and has always been fair to the government and considerate of the public. In fact it was LTO that asked Stradcom to allow other government agencies to connect to the LTO database,” Quiambao said in the statement.

Stradcom spokesperson Margaux Salcedo said the LTO and the Department of Transportation and Communications had even issued various circulars and department orders directing the opening of the LTO database for interconnectivity.

These interconnectivity projects helped the national government earn billions, Salcedo said.

She said that before the interconnectivity projects were in place, 65 percent of registered motor vehicles did not go through emission testing, and over half of registered vehicles did not have the required compulsory third-party liability.

The government was also losing potential earnings from for-hire vehicles with unconfirmed franchises, but the situation changed because of the interconnectivity projects.

With these improvements, the government now earns additional revenues, Salcedo said.

She added that Stradcom’s interconnectivity facility had ensured the authenticity of over P3 billion in annual insurance premiums for which the government would have otherwise lost tax revenues due to unscrupulous practices of fake insurance agents.

The public also benefits because they no longer fall prey to fake agents, she added.