The Office of the Ombudsman has ordered the six-month preventive suspension without pay of Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) chairperson Vigor Mendoza II and Office of Transportation Cooperatives (OTC) chief Teofilo Guadiz III over alleged corruption involving an outdated information technology system.

The order, issued Monday, stemmed from their previous tenure as Land Transportation Office (LTO) executives.

Investigators found sufficient grounds to charge Mendoza and Guadiz with grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service for insisting on using the older Stradcom IT system despite the rollout of the government-approved Land Transportation Management System (LTMS).

“The continued utilization of the LTO IT System by Guadiz and Mendoza demonstrates a patent disregard of established government policy and prior official directives intended to transition LTO operations to the LTMS,” the order stated.

Ombudsman investigators said the insistence of the former LTO officials on utilizing the older framework resulted in motorists paying an extra P13.3 billion in computer fees between 2019 and 2025.

To recall, Stradcom secured its initial contract to build and operate the agency’s IT infrastructure in 1998.

The government later executed a phaseout agreement and contracted German firm Dermalog Identification Systems GmbH to build the new management system, which was completed in 2021.

Despite the new system’s completion, Mendoza and Guadiz opted for parallel utilization of the older Stradcom framework. In 2025, Mendoza ordered public utility vehicle registrations processed through Stradcom without prior LTFRB approval.

Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano stressed that the preventive suspension is immediately executory but does not constitute a penalty.

“The preventive suspension is intended not as a penalty but to preserve documents and evidence and prevent possible further malfeasance or misfeasance in office,” Clavano said.

In a statement posted on the LTFRB’s official social media page, Mendoza said he had not yet received a copy of the order but respected the Ombudsman’s decision, calling the investigation an opportunity to clear his name.

“I have yet to see the copy of the official order and once received, this will serve as the basis to reiterate my position, and present evidence-backed legal arguments that all my actions when I was still the LTO Chief were all for the protection and interest of not only the motorists but also the Filipino people,” Mendoza said.

Guadiz also released a separate statement expressing respect for the decision while awaiting formal receipt of the order.

“I remain confident that the evidence and the official records will show that the actions I took during my tenure as Chief of the Land Transportation Office were lawful, undertaken in good faith, and guided by my duty to serve the public interest,” Guadiz said.