Lawmakers want new driver's license bidding probed

MANILA, Philippines - Two Mindanao congressmen proposed yesterday an inquiry into the bidding by the Land Transportation Office (LTO) for the supply of new driver’s license cards worth P500 million.

In Resolution 485, Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez and his brother Maximo, who represents the party-list group Abante Mindanao, said a legislative inquiry is needed in the wake of reported irregularities in the bidding process.

They said a prospective bidder, All Visuals and Lights System, has asked the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) to look into these irregularities, particularly the technical requirements contained in the terms of reference (TOR).

They said the TOR appears to “favor a specific supplier for a card printer, which is Toppan of Japan, because only its model, Visage CP400, meets the requirements – a clear violation of the Government Procurement Act or Republic Act 9184.”

The TOR also requires that the cards be made of security paper manufactured by a company that has experience in high security bank notes and passports in the Philippines.

“That would limit the qualified supplier to only one – Arjowiggins of France, which now supplies security paper for the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the Department of Foreign Affairs,” the resolution’s authors said.

They said Arjowiggins and Topan have formed a consortium with a local partner to bid for the new license cards.

They said the current LTO driver’s license card supplier, Amalgamated Motors Inc. (Ampi), is interested in participating in the bidding. They noted that Ampi’s contract with LTO expired in 2003 and the company has since been supplying the agency with cards “without a contract” and paid a total of P3.5 billion over seven years.

They stressed that the two agencies, in hiring a new supplier, should be able to get better terms for the public and the government.