Senate panel may push filing of raps over delayed license plates –Gordon

The Senate blue ribbon committee may recommend graft or even plunder charges against former and current transportation officials over the delay in the issuance of license plates, its chair, Senator Richard Gordon, said Sunday.

In an interview with "Dobol B TV," Gordon said that the delay in the issuance of license plates caused undue damage to vehicle owners, which he said is tantamount to violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

"Yung kanilang pagpapahirap sa mga tao, whoever causes damage to third parties and other agencies, ay anti-graft 'yun. Dahil ang laki-laki ng pera na aabot sa kanila, baka umabot sila doon plunder. 'Yan ang sinisilip natin ngayon," he said.

Gordon, however, did not identify yet the officials that could face graft or plunder charges as the Senate blue ribbon was still hearing the matter.

According to Gordon, the issue began as early as 2013, during the Aquino administration, when a bidding was conducted for the Motor Vehicle License Plate Standardization Program amounting to P3.8 billion.

"Ang nangyari nag-bid sila, sila [former Transportation] Secretary [Joseph Emilio] Abaya, at ang nanalo doon sa bidding nila na gagawa ng plaka, meron na silang pabrika ng plaka doon sa likod ng LTO (Land Transportation Office), yung PPI-JKG [joint venture]," he said.

"Ang problema nag-bid sila nang wala naman silang appropriation," he added.

This led to a case before the Supreme Court, which resulted in the delay of the issuance of license plates, Gordon said.

When the Duterte administration came in, another supplier won the bidding for the license plates, Trojan Computer Forms Manufacturing Corp., the senator said.

The PPI-JKG joint venture supposedly wanted to finish producing the license plates from 2013, he added, but Trojan did not agree as they have a so-called "order management system."

"Sabi nila, kapag ginawa niyo yan at wala yan, back to square one tayo, hindi natin malalaman talaga kung tunay ang plaka na yan. So tumagal na naman," Gordon said.

This delay in the issuance of license plates, which now already spanned years, makes current and former transportation officials liable, according to Gordon.

"Pareho [sila], dahil itinuloy nila e. Dine-delay mo dahil lamang doon sa order management system, yung parang source code. Pwede namang ipamigay yun," he said.

"The fact na hindi sila gumawa ng paraan, there is a liability there sa Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, causing any undue injury to any party within the government or giving any private party any unwarranted benefits," he added.

The hearing being conducted by the Senate blue ribbon stemmed from the slow implementation of the Motorcycle Crime Prevention Act, which Gordon introduced.

The law, signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in March 2019, essentially aims to prevent the use of motorcycles in crimes by mandating bigger plates and other identification marks. —LBG, GMA News