2 groups qualify for P3.4-B LTO project bid

Only two groups out of nine are qualified to bid for a P3.4-billion Land Transportation Office project, said Transportation Secretary Joseph Abaya, as he touted the progress made in an undertaking marred by delays.

Abaya said the two companies were Indra Systems Inc. and Kaisa Consulting and Ceragon Network. Both companies had expressed their interest in an earlier version of the IT infrastructure deal, which was declared a failed bid.

“Those who didn’t [qualify], as usual, filed MRs [motions for reconsideration],” Abaya said.

A government source with knowledge of the matter said of the seven groups that had been disqualified, five had already filed appeals.

This is just the first part of the two-stage bidding process for the project, which aims to replace the LTO IT system’s existing but controversial operator Stradcorm Corp.

There is still a so-called proof of concept stage before the actual bids are opened. The proof of concept stage is scheduled on June 16, a bid bulletin showed.

The bid qualification was held Friday after a long delay. Lawyer Salvador Belaro filed a suit and succeeded in obtaining a 20-day temporary restraining order from the Mandaluyong City regional trial court starting April 23.

Belaro, who filed the suit as a taxpayer, citizen and motorist, claimed that the current bid structure was “vastly” different from that of the P8.2-billion LTO IT infrastructure deal in 2012. It was later declared a failed bid.

The TRO may have lapsed, but the trial for permanent injunction “continues,” Transportation spokesman Michael Sagcal said in a text message Friday.

Because of the difference of the scope and value of the 2014 LTO IT project, Belaro said, fresh government approvals including a multiyear obligation authority (MYOA) from the Department of Budget and Management are   needed instead of the “recycled” ones the Transportation department is now using.

Sagcal said previously that a new MYOA was not needed because the DOTC decided to “split” the 2012 bid structure into two, given the difficulty in auctioning off the entire project.