LTO to issue new plates next month

MANILA, Philippines - Owners registering new vehicles will start receiving the new license plates by the end of September as the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) awarded the contract for the P3-billion license plate standardization project to a Dutch company and its Filipino partner.

Michael Arthur Sagcal, spokesman for the DOTC, said yesterday that the Land Transportation Office (LTO) would start distributing in September the plates with new alphanumeric design.

Motor vehicle plates now have three letters and a four-number combination, while motorcycle plates will have two letters and a five-number combination.

He said private vehicle plates would come in a black-and-white design similar to plates in developed countries in Europe and also Singapore.

LTO executive director Alfonso Tan said each pair of plates for the motor vehicles would cost P450. Plates for motorcycles would cost P120 each.

He said owners of old vehicles and motorcycles would be required to buy the new license plates when they renew their vehicle registration.

Tan said they expect the standardization process to be completed within three to five years.

Tan said the dimensions of the new plates for motor vehicles would still be the same as the old plates – 390 mm by 140 mm – while those for motorcycles – 225 mm by 105 mm – would be bigger by 5 mm in height and width from the old plates.

Sagcal said the latest technologies adopted as multiple security features include laser-etched bar codes containing selective data inputs which will allow data verification with the LTO, reflective sheeting material that will allow license plate visibility even from wide-entrance angles and up to a distance of 100 feet for both daytime and nighttime, and anodized bolt head screws and nuts with serial numbers that will prevent tampering and removal of the license plates from the vehicle bodies once installed.

The new security features will promote safety and reliability in accordance with international standards.

The new plates aim to prevent tampering, theft, and falsification of license plates, curb carjacking, colorum vehicles, and smuggling of cars, he said.

“What matters is that the DOTC conducted an open, fair, and transparent bidding in accordance with procurement laws,” he added.

The notice of award, dated July 22, was posted on the DOTC website this week. It was given to a joint venture between Dutch firm J. Knieriem B.V. Goes (JKG) and Power Plates Development Concepts, Inc.

The notice was addressed to Christian Calanglang, managing director of the joint venture.

The notice of award issued by the DOTC was released amid calls made by a losing bidder for DOTC Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya to withhold the award of the contract to JKG, citing alleged irregularities in the bidding process, and a review of the contract sought by Senator Ramon Revilla Jr.

“Based on the findings of the Bids and Awards Committee and pursuant to the BAC Resolution No. P-GS-PB-2013-11 dated 11 July 2013, the contract for the supply and delivery of motor vehicle license plates for the Land Transportation Office motor vehicle license plate standardization program for a period of five years is hereby awarded to J. Knieriem BV-Power Plates,” according to the notice signed by DOTC Undersecretary Jose Perpetuo Lotilla, head of the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC).

It was approved by Abaya, who also signed the notice of award.

The amount stated in the notice is P1,989,846,820 for 5,236,439 pairs of motor vehicle plates and P1,196,162,040 for 9,968,017 motorcycle plates, or a total of P3,186,008,860.

This amount is less than the original approved budget for the contract at P3,851,600,100.

Following an invitation to bid stating the approved budget for the contract of P3,851,600,100, it was amended through General Bid Bulletin No. 003-2013 and divided into two lots.

The first lot was for motor vehicle plates (5,236,439 pairs of plates worth P2,356,397,550) and the second lot was for motorcycle plates (9,968,017 plates for motorcycles worth P1,495,202,550).

JKG-Power Plates proposed to supply the motor vehicle plates for a total cost of P1.98 billion while Industrias Samart-Datatrail offered a higher amount of P2.03 billion. Both bids are lower than the ceiling price of P2.356 billion.

On the other hand, JKG-Power Plates pegged the cost for supply of the plates for motorcycles at P1.196 billion while Industrias Samart-Datatrail offered a higher amount of P1.275 billion. Both bids were also lower than the ceiling price of P1.495 billion.

The bidders that were disqualified were RNA and Utal, Kolonwel Trading (Philippines) and China’s Shanghai Fa Yu Industrial Co. Ltd; Utsch-Fereira (Phils.) Corp. and Utsch AG of Germany; Uniforbes Inc. and Germany’s EHA Hoffman International Gmbh; DVK Philippines Enterprises and Jinjiang Hesheng Light of China; and Proact Philippines Inc.

These bidders were disqualified for failing to submit documents such as financial statements, valid credit line certificate, valid mayor’s permit, valid certificate of reciprocity, among others.

RNA Holdings Inc. represented by former Cabinet secretary Robert Aventajado together with its partner Utal Sp. Z.O.O. of Poland, said about P2 billion of taxpayers’ money would be wasted after the joint venture was disqualified from participating in the bidding process.

Aventajado, who served as chief negotiator and flagship program secretary during the term of former President Joseph Estrada, said the financial bid submitted by RNA and Utal was less than half compared with the two bidders qualified by the DOTC.

Leo Romero, counsel for Marianing & Sons Development Corp., has claimed the splitting was done to favor the Dutch company JKG, which he alleged was financially incapable of undertaking the project.

He claimed this was not allowed without re-advertisement.

Romero cited a resolution issued by the Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB) in April 2005, which he said mandates the re-publication.

The GPPB Resolution No. 07-2005 (Providing for the Rules on Adjustments in the Approved Budget for the Contract) states: “Upon re-adjustment of the ABC (approved budget for contract), the procuring entity must conduct re-bidding with re-advertisement/posting. Any succeeding adjustments of the ABC shall be in accordance with these guidelines.”

Sagcal said the resolution governs instances where there is a change in a project’s approved budget for the contract.

He noted that in the case of the plate standardization project, there was no change in the approved budget for the contract.

Citing documents submitted by JKG, Sagcal also denied the Dutch firm was financially incapable of undertaking the government project.

The notice of award stated the delivery of the plates should be 30 days after receipt of the purchase order at 20,000 pieces per day or 5,000 pairs of motor vehicle plates and 10,000 pieces of motorcycle plates per day.

“The public can start enjoying the benefits of cutting-edge standardized license plates before the end of September. They need not wait much longer,” Sagcal said in a statement released yesterday.

Sagcal said the DOTC would now have 10 days to finalize the supply contracts, after which a Notice to Proceed will be issued to the winning bidder.

The consortium will then have 30 days to deliver the license plates to the LTO.

Graft charges filed

The consumer group Action for Consumerism and Transparency for Nation (Action) has filed graft charges before the Office of the Ombudsman against several officers of the DOTC and LTO over the alleged questionable bidding of contract for the supply of motor vehicle plates.

Action, led by Vito Gaspar and Enrico Silo, said members of the Bids and Awards Committee, the BAC Secretariat and the Technical Working Group (TWG) should be held liable under Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, Code of Ethics and Ethical Standards and Government Procurement Reform Act.

The complainants did not identify the DOTC and LTO officials, but said they were members of the BAC and TWG and their names could be gathered from records.

The consumer group is seeking the preventive suspension of the public officers involved and their indictment after preliminary investigation.

The group also included in the charge sheet the Dutch firm JKG and its local arm Power Plates Development Concepts Inc. for allegedly submitting fraudulent financial eligibility documents during two-day marathon bidding sessions last May 6 and 7.

The said sessions qualified JKG, PPDC and Spain’s Industrias Samar’t SA and local company Datatrail Corporation.

“It is imperative that foreign corporations are made to respect Philippine laws and be held criminally accountable for flouting Philippine procurement laws, through its submission of fraudulent financial documents,” the group said in their 19-page complaint filed before the ombudsman’s office.

“In the case at bar, JKG appears to have treated Philippine procurement laws with such disdain, by haughtily submitting fraudulent financial documents, in contravention of Section 4 of the Omnibus Sworn Statement that states that: ‘Each of the documents submitted in satisfaction of the bidding requirements is an authentic copy of the original, complete, and all statements and information provided therein are true and correct,” they added.

Under present rules, a bidder must submit a computation of its Net Financial Contracting Capacity (NFCC) or a commitment from a universal or commercial bank to extend a credit line in its favor if awarded the contract for this project.

The NFCC, computed using the following formula, must be at least equal to the ABC to be qualified to bid.

Citing financial statements of JKG for 2011 showing €4,747,993.00 as current assets, complainants alleged said “it is therefore a statistical impossibility for J. Knieriem B.V. Goes (JKG) to achieve an NFCC computation that is at least equal to or in excess of the Approved Budget for the Contract, given the figures in its Consolidated Financial Statements for 2011.” – With Edu Punay, Lawrence Agcaoili