DESPITE the completion and delivery of the P8.227 billion Land Transportation Management System (LTMS), the Commission on Audit revealed the Land Transportation Office (LTO) still charged the transacting public P203.1 million fees for the use of the old IT system of Stradcom Corp. in the last four months of 2023.
This was revealed in the 2023 audit of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) released by the COA last December 2.
Auditors noted that the LTO had already issued a Certificate of Completion and Final Acceptance for the LTMS project as of December 17, 2021.
The system consists of seven “core applications” – the portal, the online appointment and applications system, the driver’s licensing system, the revenue collection system, the law enforcement and traffic adjudication system, the motor vehicle inspection and registration system, and the executive information system.
Taken together, the IT project was heralded as a full automation of the LTO’s internal and external functions towards “paperless transactions for optimum efficiency.”
However, the glowing description has yet to materialize even after the lapse of the committed timeline for the full utilization of the LTMS as of August 30, 2023.
The LTO said there were still “existing issues and problems in the functions/processes of the system …resulting in the non-maximization of the benefits that can be derived from the project.”
Auditors blamed the inability of the LTO to fully utilize the billion-pesos system for imposing an “additional burden and expense to the transacting public for paying the computer IT fees charged by Stradcom Corp,” noting that this could have been avoided had the LTMS been fully functioning.
The pricey partial functioning system earned the LTO an Audit Observation Memorandum (AOM) issued on March 17, 2023 seeking an explanation as to why the new IT system failed to deliver the promised benefits “despite full acceptance and payment.”
“Validation of the status of Management’s implementation of the audit recommendations thereon showed that the old IT system is still in use and its provider was still generating huge income from the computer IT fees paid by the public …in catering the LTO’s services,” the COA pointed out.
The audit team noted that LTO management had previously issued assurances to the House committee on transportation that full utilization of the LTMS would be implemented no later than August 30, 2023.
But in an unnumbered memorandum dated September 27, 2023 bearing the subject “Utilization of the IT System at our Disposal,” the audit team said the agency “gave discretion to LTO personnel to use the old IT System of Stradcom Corp until October 31, 2023.
The same unnumbered memorandum disclosed that the LTMS is still undergoing “essential enhancements …to fully adhere to the existing LTO policies.”
Likewise, it admitted the existence of “persistent performance issues and unresolved service requests.”
Another memorandum dated October 26, 2023 extended the validity of using the Stradcom System until November 30, 2023, again mentioning “essential enhancement necessary for the LTMS to be fully utilized.”
Invoking the “interest of public service,” the LTO instructed its personnel to “employ whichever system is necessary, whether the LTMS or the LTO-IT System” including the initial MV registration.
“In effect, since the LTO has no fully or complete operational IT System nationwide, which reportedly was due to existing issues and problems of the LTMS in some identified areas and circumstances the LTO was still allowed to use the old IT system. This resulted in additional burden and expense for the transacting public,” the COA said.
The LTO was told to work closely with LTMS provider Dermalog and its stakeholders to resolve all the remaining issues or glitches in the new system.
It was likewise instructed to secure a specific deadline from Dermalog to completely deliver all the necessary functions/features of the seven core applications and to agree on sanctions that may be imposed for non-compliance.
