RFID - what's this all about?

With the New Year, I guess things are back to normal with various groups planning to stage protest rallies against the recent oil price hikes. The week started with militant transport groups storming the Land Transportation Office (LTO) headquarters in Quezon City to highlight their opposition to the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) scheme. The RFID is a tracking system that makes use of a sticker containing a scanner-readable microchip with information about a vehicle such as make, color, model, plate number as well as the name of the owner. Under the RFID scheme, vehicle owners applying for or renewing registration must shell out an additional P350 one-time fee for the installation of the microchip - something which various groups vehemently resisted when the LTO tried to implement it last October.

Critics of the RFID say the whole thing is suspicious and anomalous for a number of reasons. For one, the project was pushed through without any public bidding and instead was handed down to the LTO’s information technology contractor Stradcom. While the RFID may be merely an “enhancement” of an existing project, it still should have gone through a bidding process since the microchips are sourced from another firm. Stradcom had previously admitted that the scanners and tags will be manufactured abroad - not by the IT company itself.

Opponents insist the project is illegal because it did not pass through the National Economic and Development Authority. Former NEDA chief Ralph Recto had said proponents of the project “must be powerful enough to have the guts to bypass” PGMA because the scheme did not go through the NEDA board which has to approve any proposed new fees. People don’t understand why LTO insists on collecting the fees now despite the existence of petitions pending before the Supreme Court.

According to a spokesperson for Stradcom, the LTO pushed through with the RFID tagging since the SC has not yet decided on the TRO petition, yet in the same breath admits that they have yet to get NEDA’s formal opinion if the project is indeed a mere extension of an existing contract between LTO and Stradcom (and therefore does not require any public bidding). So why the haste? Opposition groups say this is just another attempt by the administration to generate more funds for the May elections. Do the math. An estimated six million vehicles will register this year, and the P350 RFID fee is expected to generate more than P2 billion in revenues for the government. And the amount does not even include two-wheeled vehicles that will also be slapped with the new fees once LTO whiz kids figure out where to install the tags to make them scanner-readable without being exposed to the elements. 

But one of the biggest fears among motorists is that the microchips might be used to invade privacy because it could be used to monitor a driver’s location - something which suspicious wives will probably welcome. Militant groups claim the chips could be used for surveillance against government critics. But according to LTO chief Art Lomibao, the system is designed to enhance LTO’s efforts in identifying “colorum” and stolen vehicles because law enforcers will be able to electronically access vehicle information, but only within a radius of 10 to 12 meters since the project does not have Global Positioning System which can track the movement of vehicles anywhere. “Our main concern is to enhance the capability to ensure compliance of government regulations. The public has nothing to fear about the RFID technology especially if they are not violating any laws or traffic regulations,” he said.

The RFID technology is already being used all over the world for a lot of applications and even for law enforcement and security purposes. This is something that can be very useful in the long run, but the implementation must be done properly to avoid potential abuses of the system. After all, you can’t really blame people for being suspicious because the LTO has been the subject of so many corruption complaints over the years. For instance, people who flunk the examinations for a driver’s license can simply bribe a corrupt LTO employee to fix their papers. Never mind if these people are potential “murderers” who get involved in fatal vehicular accidents because they are not familiar with traffic rules and road safety regulations. Last year, new car owners had to pay more to expedite the release of their car plates because the LTO allegedly ran out of plates!

And how can the LTO claim that the new RFID technology will improve their services when in fact, they cannot even make their data processing centers function accurately? We have received so many complaints from drivers who get the surprise of their lives because they cannot renew their licenses unless they pay for a three-year-old traffic violation which they know they have already settled but still show up in the LTO database. So if you’re not the type to keep three-year-old receipts, tough luck. You just have to pay up.

Ironically, a report by the Commission on Audit says LTO ineptitude has resulted in the loss of some P17 million in fines and seminar fees from erring drivers because the LTO failed to upload adjusted fines for violators. Worse, this ineptitude has paved the way for the re-issuance of license plates to serious traffic violators and the renewal of licenses for delinquent drivers. Many suspect this could have been made possible with the collusion of corrupt employees. If the LTO cannot implement this basic task, how much more so an ambitious scheme which can be used as another potential tool for corruption? Maybe the LTO should spend a little more time explaining what the RFID is all about – how much the project really costs, what kind of fees will be collected from motorists, are the amounts reasonable, and how much the government stands to earn from all these.

* * *

Email: [email protected]