DOTC to extend Stradcom contract

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is looking at extending the contract of Stradcom Corp. after the lowest bidder for the P8.2 billion road information technology infrastructure project of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) failed to qualify.

DOTC undersecretary Jose Perpetuo Lotilla said the agency’s bids and awards committee (BAC) was procuring the services of Stradcom whose contract is set to expire on Sunday while the evaluation process for the procurement of a new contractor is still underway.

Lotilla, who also chairs the DOTC’s BAC, said the move would ensure the continuity and non-disruption of services to the public and is allowed under emergency interim contract negotiated pursuant to Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Act.

 â€œAfter assessing the current situation, we have decided to procure the services of Stradcom for eight months in order not to disrupt the automated system now being used by LTO and avoid reverting into manual operation.However, this contract can be terminated sooner at the discretion of the DOTC depending on how soon the new system provider can take over,” he added.

The DOTC said the bidding process for the DOTC Road IT infrastructure project has not yet been completed and a new service provider has not yet been determined. As such, it is absolutely essential in the interest of public service that the services be uninterrupted until such time that a new service provider is in the position to provide the service.

The agency yesterday announced that the lowest bidder for the project, Digitext Asia Corp., failed in the post-qualification process due to the lack of valid mayor’s permit for year 2012 and non-submission of bill of quantities of items proposed.

 â€œBecause of the exacting requirement of RA 9184, the BAC has no choice except to conclude that it failed in the post-qualification,” Lotilla explained.