Charges at Ombudsman already addressed — LTO chief

Land Transportation Office chief, Assistant Secretary Vigor Mendoza II, on Friday, said he is surprised over the two separate cases filed against him before the Office of the Ombudsman relating to license plates and the digitalization of LTO services.

"This came as a surprise to me since the two issues that were brought to the Ombudsman by the complainants, are the very same issues that I have been addressing since Day One of my assumption as the LTO Chief," Mendoza told the DAILY TRIBUNE.

On Thursday, a transport group filed before the Office of the Ombudsman a complaint against Mendoza, accusing him of corruption through the agency's digitalization of its processes.

The Federated Land Transport Organizations of the Philippines (FELTOP), which acts as the complainant, said that since 2017, its drivers and operators would register vehicles and renew driver's licenses through the LTO-IT system run by Stradcom Corporation.

The IT company would charge a "computer fee" in exchange for collecting, keeping, and uploading data to their database. The transport group said the LTO passed the computer fee to motorists.

In 2020, the LTO launched the government-run Land Transportation Management System (LTMS) which does not charge computer fees for motorists' transactions.

In January 2023, former LTO chief Arturo Tugade issued Memorandum Circular No. 2023-2373, fully implementing the LTMS for vehicle registration and subsequently phasing out the LTO-IT system.

However, FELTOP said that some of its members, part of Evergreen Transport, were charged computer fees worth P169.09, according to vehicle registration receipts dated between October and November 2023.

The group alleged Mendoza issued an unnumbered memorandum in August 2023 allowing the simultaneous use of both the LTO-IT and the LTMS system due to "alleged lingering performance issues and unresolved service tickets brought about by its limitation."

Furthermore, Memorandum Circulars VDM-2023-2427 and VDM-2023-2440, both issued in October 2023, amended the receipt printing policy, so that transactions conducted under LTO-IT appeared to have been processed under the LTMS, resulting in computer fees charged to motorists.

In November 2023, Mendoza reportedly issued another unnumbered memorandum ordering regional directors, assistant regional directors, division heads of central and regional offices, heads of district or extension offices, and LTO employees to process new registrations and miscellaneous transactions for public utility vehicles under the LTO-IT.

"Mendoza, a public official, acted in 'evident bad faith' by issuing these memorandums and re-implementing the use of LTO-IT, as motorists had to pay the computer fee," the FELTOP complaint read.

Mendoza also showed "evident partiality" or favor towards Stradcom, the transport group alleged in its complaint.

Mendoza's denial

Mendoza vehemently denied the accusation and described it as "baseless and absurd."

"On the digitalization , for instance, we have already successfully consolidated all the online transactions using the LTMS, which means the transactions now are more convenient and hassle-free for all our clients. And this was done in just four months after I assumed office," Mendoza said.

He added that the LTO is on the right track of addressing the millions of backlogs in the license plates "since we are now producing one million metal plates a month."

"Nevertheless, we are in a democratic country where anyone could file a case against anybody. Proving the allegation before any court of law, however, is another matter. I respect and welcome the filing of these two cases because this will be a good opportunity and a proper forum on my part to prove that the allegations are totally baseless and absurd—and eventually expose the real motive behind this action," the LTO Chief explained.

"Let me assure the Filipino people once again that all the transactions in the LTO are transparent and are done with integrity, and will continue to be that way under my watch," Mendoza assures.