DOTC to sue Stradcom for illegal use of LTO database

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is in the process of filing charges against the Land Transportation Office’s (LTO) information technology provider Stradcom Corp. over the loss of around P2 billion from the illegal use of the LTO’s database.

LTO chairwoman Virginia Torres said that the agency lost an estimated P2 billion from Stradcom’s allegedly illegal use of its database, just like the Commission on Audit (COA) stated in its 2010 report on the LTO.

DOTC Secretary Manuel Roxas II said that this is now a matter of litigation and that his undersecretary, Jose Perpetuo Lotilla, is heading this effort.

“The DOTC is finalizing its legal position as we consider that this is unauthorized.  We will recoup all unauthorized exploitation of this database which is owned by government,” Roxas said during the Senate hearing on the DOTC’s 2012 budget yesterday.

Roxas declined to provide further details about the case in public.

According to the COA, LTO allowed Stradcom to use its database for various interconnectivity projects. Stradcom in turn used the database to deal with other agencies without giving the LTO a share of its revenues from these dealings.

The COA report indicated that Stradcom earned an estimated P2.015 billion from 2006 to 2010.

Stradcom spokesperson Margaux Salcedo said they were “shocked” by Roxas’ pronouncement, adding that the firm cannot be accused on “unauthorized exploitation of the database” in its contract with the LTO.

“But we welcome any investigation or case because DOTC records themselves will show that it was the government through the DOTC itself that engaged Stradcom to provide interconnectivity services from other government agencies to the LTO,” Salcedo said in a statement.

Salcedo said DOTC department orders mandated Stradcom to open up its IT facility for interconnectivity with the LTO and with other government agencies. The orders cover links with private emission testing centers; the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, for a facility to end the practice of using fake franchises; a certificate of cover verification facility, to end the proliferation of fake insurance policies; and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority. – With Reinir Padua