LTO Probed on Potential Issues of Driver’s License Project

Members of the House committee on transportation called upon Land Transportation Office (LTO) officials to answer a few pertinent questions about the agency’s pending driver’s license card project. In particular, Congress members wanted to know the reasoning behind the printing contract for the 5-year valid cards.

LTO chief Edgar Galvante claims that the agency furnished a separate contract for the 5-year cards because they intend to add a security feature. Rep. Noel L. Villanueva of 3^rd District, Tarlac argued the agency already had an existing contract for the current 3-year valid cards. “Hindi ba puwedeng pag-isahin na lang iyan? Hindi ba gastos sa gobyerno na merong three years at may five years pa na contract? Can’t it be done in a single contract? Isn’t it an added expense to government that there is a three-year validity contract and a five-year validity contract?” Villanueva said.

How much will it cost?

Villanueva also grilled the LTO officials about how much it would cost the agency to print the five-year cards. “Magkano ho ba inyong kontrata sa pagpri-print ng five-year validity license cards. In the terms of reference (TOR), the purpose of the contract is to produce 8.5 million driver’s license cards which are secured and tamper-resistant,” said Villanueva.

Galvante replied that the total cost of printing the three-year valid cards stands at P187.08 million. Adding this cost to that of the three-year card’s, Rep. Villanueva estimated that the current backlog of three-year cards plus the introduction of the five-year valid cards will cost the government over P800 million.

“Itong sistemang ito, di ba magiging five years na tayo bakit kelangan pang i-direct contract iyong cards with three-year validity period. Nakapaghintay naman na tayo ng matagal eh di gawin na lahat na five-year period iyan. Tingin ko makakatipid pa ang gobyerno,” Villanueva added.

Security for 5-year license cards

Committee vice chairman Rep. Edgar Mary S. Sarmiento of 1^st District, Samar asked Galvante if the license cards are tamper-proof. “We do not want people to go to Recto to get their driver’s license. Do you have features in the IDs to make them tamper-proof?” went Sarmiento’s question.

Galvante then presented two samples to the committee—one PVC card and one polycarbonate card, which is the material that the 5-year cards will supposedly be made of. Galvante explained that the PVC card costs P67 to make, while the polycarbonate has a larger manufacturing price tag of P100. For security, Galvante explains that the PVC card uses a barcode while the polycarbonate option comes with more secure microchip technology. Galvante adds that the polycarbonate cards have a longer lifespan than their PVC counterparts.

The LTO driver’s license backlog

Currently, LTO faces a 3-million backlog on the distribution of the 3-year cards. The government agency started addressing this issue in December 2016, with the goal of distributing around 700,000 Metro Manila-centric licenses then, following that with successive roll-outs in other regions. The agency started issuing the 5-year cards last October, which amounts to 1.03 million cards total and amounting to P103,353,800. The 2017 cards totaling 6.764 million cards in all and at P100 per, amounts to P676.498 million.

Bidding not done

Galvante explained that the bidding for the project is still ongoing. Any negotiation that transpired, he claims, is for the three-year validity with a backlog of three million. He adds that bidding will go through direct contracting as specified by the Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB), adding that five entities expressed their interest to participate in the bidding for the manufacture of the five-year license card.