The Land Transportation Office, or LTO, aims to completely resolve by November this year the 14-point deficiencies of its online portal that the Department of Information and Communications Technology flagged.

In an interview Wednesday on DAILY TRIBUNE's digital online show Straight Talk, LTO chief Atty. Vigor Mendoza II said he has mobilized a technical working group to expedite addressing the issues surrounding the Land Transportation Management System or LTMS.

"DICT identified 14 deficiencies that we have to address. I created a technical working group to address all these deficiencies this month, so by November, we will be 100 percent okay," Mendoza said.

"The usage of the entire system, meaning to say, all the deficiencies would have been addressed by that time," he added.

To recall, former LTO chief Jay Art Tugade, who resigned due to the "indifference" of the Department of Transportation, previously committed to the full utilization of the LTMS by last August. 

Tugade made the promise in a House Committee on Transportation public hearing early this year.

The LTMS was jointly developed by German technology firm Dermalog and its local partners, Holy Family Printing Corp., Microgenesis, and Verzontal Builders Inc. The project went through competitive bidding in May 2018.

The LTO's online portal is a one-stop shop that integrates all LTO services in a single contactless database system and digital platform.

The Commission on Audit, or CoA, has repeatedly criticized the LTMS project for delays in its implementation despite total payments for core applications and at least 15 contract extensions. It pointed out that incomplete foreign-assisted projects are a waste of government funds.

In its 2022 report, for instance, the CoA reiterated that the missing processes were deemed necessary by the system's users, such as absentee and overseas Filipino workers who need to renew their driver's licenses through the Driver's Licensing System.

He said his office is awaiting the reply of Dermalog to LTO's request to turn over the LTMS' source code.

In a separate development, Mendoza affirmed that the LTO is rushing to distribute unclaimed licensed plates.

As of early October, he said the agency targets to clear the backlogs of 2.4 million in pending drivers' licenses by March 2024 and vehicle plates by 2025.

Following the directive of Transportation Secretary Jaime J. Bautista, the LTO tapped malls for faster and more efficient release of the plates.

Mendoza noted that an appointment scheme was also enforced to ensure the smooth distribution and release of the unclaimed licensed plates.

Additionally, he said he would push for the majority of the transactions in the LTO to be done online to provide a more efficient and effective service to the public.

To recall, the LTO faced backlash after it ran out of license plate materials and delayed their release to their respective owners.

Mendoza, who took his oath of office last July, was tasked by Bautista to leverage his expertise in the transport sector to resolve these pressing issues within the year.