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MANILA, Philippines—The government may finally replace Stradcom Corp.
as Land Transportation Office’s (LTO) exclusive information technology
(IT) systems provider after the discovery of several violations by the
company of its contract.
In a press conference on Tuesday, LTO chief Virginia Torres said the
Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), the mother
agency of LTO, has started reviewing Stradcom’s contract.
Torres accused the technology firm of violating several provisions in
its contract, which included the failure to maintain a backup system
for the LTO’s records and overcharging motorists in the form of
redundant computer fees.
She said that last December 9, during the attempted takeover of
Stradcom’s operations by a group led by businessmen Bonifacio Sumbilla
and Alderito Yujuico, the LTO database being maintained by Stradcom
became inaccessible.
Torres said this should not have happened because under the
Stradcom’s contract, it has been mandated to maintain an off-site
business continuity system that should be activated if the main system
became inaccessible.
“After that incident, I found that this back-up system has never been
operational and except for a failed testing in 2004, has never been
tested again because of various reasons,” Torres said.
She noted that without this backup system, the company has been
running the risk of the LTO losing its database of registered vehicles
and license holders in case of natural disasters.
“It would be quite unbelievable that Stradcom could not afford to
operate [the back-up]… after all, since 2002 when we started collecting
computer fees, LTO has already paid Stradcom more than P9.71 billion,”
Torres said.
This figure does not include other payments made directly to Stradcom
by private emissions testing centers, estimated to have reached P1.27
billion to date.
“It would seem that Stradcom, claiming to partner with the government
for public service, is just concerned with income,” Torres said in a
prepared statement.
This dispute has become the center between Stradcom’s current
chairman Cezar Quiambao and LTO’s Torres. Quiambao has accused Torres of
siding with the Sumbilla and Yujuico group in the dispute—an allegation
Torres has denied.
Another anomaly was the company’s refusal to pay out the refund of
fees for the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips. The plan to
have all vehicles in the country tagged with RFID devices has already
been thrown out by the Supreme Court. A refund of the fees paid by
motorists that already availed of the devices was also ordered.
“Even after repeated requests made by the DOTC and LTO, Stradcom to
this day refuses to sign the conformity letter that would permit the
bank to transfer the P29.9 million from the Stradcom escrow account to
the LTO account for proper refund to those who have paid,” the company
said.
Torres also said new cars being registered have been charged three
times the required computer fees because the initial registration of
vehicles would be good for three years.
But Torres said the contract with Stradcom stated that the company
could charge P132 for every transaction, not for every year of the
registration’s validity.
“With the revised scheme of collection, Stradcom has collected in two years an additional P114.13 million,” she said.
Stradcom, in a statement, denied the LTO’s allegations. The company
said market forces have forced it to bear just an 8-percent return on
its investment, or significantly less than its estimated 20 to 25
percent when its contract started.
“There is nothing unreasonable with Stradcom’s fees given the service
it renders and the billions of pesos in investments it has made,”
Stradcom vice-president Vince Dizon said in a statement.
The company also denied that it did not have a back-up facility for
its database, saying it has been maintaining a Business Continuity
Center of Disaster Recovery Facility located in the E-PLDT Vitro
facility in Pasig City.
But the company did not say why this facility was not activated when the main system went down in January.
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as Land Transportation Office’s (LTO) exclusive information technology
(IT) systems provider after the discovery of several violations by the
company of its contract.
In a press conference on Tuesday, LTO chief Virginia Torres said the
Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), the mother
agency of LTO, has started reviewing Stradcom’s contract.
Torres accused the technology firm of violating several provisions in
its contract, which included the failure to maintain a backup system
for the LTO’s records and overcharging motorists in the form of
redundant computer fees.
She said that last December 9, during the attempted takeover of
Stradcom’s operations by a group led by businessmen Bonifacio Sumbilla
and Alderito Yujuico, the LTO database being maintained by Stradcom
became inaccessible.
Torres said this should not have happened because under the
Stradcom’s contract, it has been mandated to maintain an off-site
business continuity system that should be activated if the main system
became inaccessible.
“After that incident, I found that this back-up system has never been
operational and except for a failed testing in 2004, has never been
tested again because of various reasons,” Torres said.
She noted that without this backup system, the company has been
running the risk of the LTO losing its database of registered vehicles
and license holders in case of natural disasters.
“It would be quite unbelievable that Stradcom could not afford to
operate [the back-up]… after all, since 2002 when we started collecting
computer fees, LTO has already paid Stradcom more than P9.71 billion,”
Torres said.
This figure does not include other payments made directly to Stradcom
by private emissions testing centers, estimated to have reached P1.27
billion to date.
“It would seem that Stradcom, claiming to partner with the government
for public service, is just concerned with income,” Torres said in a
prepared statement.
This dispute has become the center between Stradcom’s current
chairman Cezar Quiambao and LTO’s Torres. Quiambao has accused Torres of
siding with the Sumbilla and Yujuico group in the dispute—an allegation
Torres has denied.
Another anomaly was the company’s refusal to pay out the refund of
fees for the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips. The plan to
have all vehicles in the country tagged with RFID devices has already
been thrown out by the Supreme Court. A refund of the fees paid by
motorists that already availed of the devices was also ordered.
“Even after repeated requests made by the DOTC and LTO, Stradcom to
this day refuses to sign the conformity letter that would permit the
bank to transfer the P29.9 million from the Stradcom escrow account to
the LTO account for proper refund to those who have paid,” the company
said.
Torres also said new cars being registered have been charged three
times the required computer fees because the initial registration of
vehicles would be good for three years.
But Torres said the contract with Stradcom stated that the company
could charge P132 for every transaction, not for every year of the
registration’s validity.
“With the revised scheme of collection, Stradcom has collected in two years an additional P114.13 million,” she said.
Stradcom, in a statement, denied the LTO’s allegations. The company
said market forces have forced it to bear just an 8-percent return on
its investment, or significantly less than its estimated 20 to 25
percent when its contract started.
“There is nothing unreasonable with Stradcom’s fees given the service
it renders and the billions of pesos in investments it has made,”
Stradcom vice-president Vince Dizon said in a statement.
The company also denied that it did not have a back-up facility for
its database, saying it has been maintaining a Business Continuity
Center of Disaster Recovery Facility located in the E-PLDT Vitro
facility in Pasig City.
But the company did not say why this facility was not activated when the main system went down in January.
original link: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]