Stradcom may still deal with LTO

Controversial tech firm Stradcom Corp. has secured an eight-month extension to its information technology (IT) contract with the Land Transportation Office (LTO), following the government’s failure to find a suitable replacement for the company.

In a statement, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) said the “emergency procurement” of Stradcom’s services would ensure that services to the public are not disrupted as the government completes its bidding process to find a new contractor.

“After assessing the current situation, we have decided to procure the services of Stradcom for eight months in order not to disrupt the automated system now being used by LTO and avoid reverting into manual operation,” DOTC Undersecretary Jose Perpetuo Lotilla said.

“This contract can be terminated sooner at the discretion of the DOTC, depending on how soon the new system provider can take over.”

Stradcom’s contract with the LTO expires on Feb. 10. The DOTC started the bidding process for Stradcom’s replacement early last year, but proceedings were delayed by a temporary restraining order (TRO) filed by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court.

The TRO was later lifted by the Court of Appeals, allowing the DOTC to proceed with the bidding.

In his statement, Lotilla said local tech company Digitext Asia Corp., which submitted the lowest bid to handle the LTO’s nationwide computer system and database, failed to meet documentary requirements and was therefore disqualified from the auction.

Lotilla, who heads the Bids and Awards committee for the project, also said Digitext did not meet post-qualification requirements because it failed to get a Mayor’s permit for 2012.

“Because of the exacting requirement of RA 9184, the BAC has no choice [but] to conclude that it failed in the post-qualification,” Lotilla said.

Last November, Digitext became the frontrunner to win the contract to replace Stradcom after the Muntinlupa-based firm submitted a bid of P3.8 billion to replace all of the LTO’s computers across the country and to modernize the agency’s record-keeping system.

The company’s bid was less than half of the P8.2-billion approved budget for the project.

Four other groups— Fritz and Macziol Asia, Eurolink Network International Corp., Kaisa Consulting and Ceragon Network—submitted bids for the project.

Fritz and Macziol Asia submitted the second-lowest bid at P5.3 billion, while Eurolink’s was third-lowest at P5.8 billion. The financial bids of Kaisa and Ceragon were not opened due to their failure to meet certain technical requirements.