LTO says nearly P1-B license plate contract awarded Dec. 1

The Land Transportation Office (LTO) said Thursday the procurement of vehicle license plates, valued at nearly P1 billion, was awarded to a private contractor on Dec. 1, 2017.
 
The LTO issued the statement a day after House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez criticized LTO Chief Edgar Galvante for failing to act on the problems hounding the supply of license plates.

The government is expected to receive an initial delivery of license plates from winning bidder Trojan Computer Forms Manufacturing Corporation and J.H. Tonnjes E.A.S.T. GmbH & Co. KG Joint Venture "sometime in March 2018," the LTO said in a statement.

The notice of award for the purchase of license plates, valued at P978.8 million, was issued joint venture on December 1. The winning bidder "has already been required to provide the performance security," the LTO said.

"Amidst the perception that the agency is not moving forward with the supply of license plates, the Land Transportation Office chief, Assistant Secretary Edgar Galvante, is on top of the situation and is proceeding with the procurement of license plates with dispatch and in accordance with existing procurement laws," the LTO noted.

During an ambush interview after a House transportation committee hearing on Wednesday, Alvarez, himself a former transportation chief, said Galvante should resign because of the delays in issuing license plates to motorists.

"More than one year ka nang nakaupo diyan pero wala pa ring plaka 'yung mga sasakyan. Aba, the most logical thing for you to do is to resign. Ibig sabihin hindi mo kaya 'yung trabaho," the Alvarez said.

Galvante did not attend the hearing, saying he was confined in a hospital.

The LTO chief requested additional funds from the Department of Transportation  totaling P400 million for the procurement of license plates under the LTO's 2017 budget, in order to resolve the problem despite the cases regarding the matter that held up the distribution of license plates for 2016 to 2018.

The 2013 procurement of motor vehicle and motorcycle plates was questioned by the Commission on Audit which issued a notice of disallowance on the P3.85-billion license plate supply contract with Knieriem b.v. (JKG) and its partner Power Plates Development Concepts Inc. (PPI-JKG Philippines Inc.).

In June 2016, the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order barring the LTO from releasing and distributing 700,000 license plates after the supplier-importer "failed to pay required Customs duties."

Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade supposedly approved Galvante's request and allotted P1 billion from the Department of Transportation's budget so the LTO can resume the procurement of license plates.

"The LTO assures the public that the agency is doing the best it can, in compliance with existing laws and regulations, to deliver the license plates," it said. — Nicole-Anne Lagrimas/VDS, GMA News