Court clears LTO chief in Stradcom fee case

MANILA, Philippines - A Quezon City regional trial court (RTC) has exonerated Land Transportation Office (LTO) chief Virginia Torres from any wrongdoing for her refusal to pay information technology (IT) firm Stradcom Corp. its dues on the ground that the rightful owner of the computer firm has yet to be determined.

QC RTC Branch 222 Judge Edgar Dalmacio Santos, in an order dated June 21, has directed Cezar Quiambao’s and Bonifacio Sumbilla’s factions to interplead, or litigate their several claims between themselves, while the court takes possession of the P1.2 billion Stradcom payments for safekeeping.

The money, which is being fought over by the two groups, is in escrow with Land Bank of the Philippines.

On Feb. 10, 2011, the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) filed an interpleader complaint with the court on behalf of LTO after the two groups claimed ownership of Stradcom. Torres sought the legal advice of government lawyers after she was threatened with lawsuits by one of the warring factions for her continued refusal to pay their dues.

The case stemmed from the Dec. 9, 2010 “takeover” by Sumbilla’s group, who informed Torres that they were the new set of officers of Stradcom. The incident, which disrupted LTO operations nationwide, prompted the Department of Transportation and Communications and the LTO to take over control of the IT systems and protect the database.

The Quiambao faction, on Jan. 20, demanded more than P662 million from LTO as payment for its rendered services. The Sumbilla group, on the other hand, sent a similar letter on Jan. 27, 2011.

Torres, upon the advice of the OSG, took the position that no such payment should be made until Stradcom’s ownership has been resolved. Santos ruled that the owners of the IT firm should settle among themselves first before seeking any payment from the LTO.