A lawmaker on Monday asked the leadership of the House of Representatives to investigate the plan of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) to award the Procurement of Motor Vehicle License Plates contract, following the reported controversy in the bidding process of the almost P1-billion deal.
In a privilege speech, Party-list Rep. Aniceto D. Bertiz III of ACTS OFW said the move to award the contract is questionable because the P998.8 billion needed for the license plates was not included in 2017’s P3.35-trillion General Appropriations Act (GAA).
“The planned procurement allegedly infringes the constitutional powers of Congress in unlawfully using the General Fund because there is no appropriation for the said project,” he said.
According to Bertiz, Section 25 of the implementing rules and regulations of Republic Act, or the Government Procurement Reform Act, were allegedly violated after the opening of the bids.
“Despite the LTO’s failure and refusal to address the issues raised regarding the absence of funding and the public bidding was allegedly rigged and manipulated, the LTO proceeded with the opening of bids on September 13, 2017,” Bertiz said.
“Since 2013 [vehicle owners] have been complaining about the unprecedented delays on not just the vehicle plates, but also the driver’s license,” he added.
Bertiz also said the mandatory 45 calendar day rule as the maximum period for the completion of the proceedings from the last posting of the invitation to bid up to the opening of the bids provided was allegedly not observed.
Lowest bid
Bertiz, likewise, questioned the lowest bid of Trojan Computer Forms/J.H. Tonnjes East GmbH in the amount of P978,800, which, he said, is P19,200 lower from the P998,00 amount of the project.
The lawmaker said the two other bidders include iPay Commerce Enterprise, EHA Hoffman International GmbH and Madras Security Printers Private Ltd. Joint Venture and the disqualified Utsch AG/Holy Family Printing Corp. Joint Venture.
In 2013 lawyer Leo Romero obtained a temporary restraining order from the Supreme Court in connection with the procurement of license plates, saying the bidding was void from the very start.
Romero also asked Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade to stop the plan of LTO for the license plate project.
Romero opposed the pre-bid conference last July 31 on the basis that it carried neither funding from the national government through the GAA “nor the presence of a special provision or continuing appropriation for the project.”