STRADCOM – LTO Build-Own-Operate
Agreement
A Lopsided Affair?
STRADCOM Corp. is the information Technology supplier contracted by the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) to supply technology and systems in the upgrade of information management at the Land Transportation Office (LTO). The contract for this purpose was signed on 26 March 1996 for BUILD-OWN-OPERATE.
Relative to the just recently released Commission on Audit (COA) report about the foregoing; a LOPSIDED AFFAIR between STRADCOM and LTO apparently exists in favor of STRADCOM. If proven true when raised in the proper forum, it will definitely have been continuously prejudicing the government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Filipino People.
According to a related news Article 1, to partially quote:
“Stradcom earned P2B using LTO data-COA”
By Leila B. SalaverriaPhilippine Daily Inquirer1:33 am l Friday, October 7th, 2011
X x x x has illegally used the LTO’s database in its dealings with other agencies, earning P2 billion in the process, according to the Commission on Audit (COA). in its 2010 report on the LTO, the COA said Stradcom had also collected P340.719 million in computer service fees even from manually processed transactions and that this amount should be recovered. The COA said LTO had allowed Stradcom to use the LTO database for various interconnectivity projects the IT company had contracted on its own and with third parties. Stradcom earned an estimated P2.015 billion from these activities from 2006 to 2010, the COA said.
No share for gov’t“The government in general as well as the LTO in particular was not given its corresponding share and the sharing scheme for interconnectivity transactions between LTO and Stradcom did not materialize,” the COA said.
“Because of the failure of the LTO officials concerned to execute the appropriate contract/s with Stradcom, IT Providers, and other private entities and government agencies, the national government as owner of the database being used was deprived of a rightful share in the interconnectivity fees collected by Stradcom. It was thus precluded from earning additional income of an undetermined amount, “it said.
Another noteworthy development about the matter is the statement of Secretary Mar Roxas which was highlighted in another related news Article2
and to partially quote:
“Gov’t to file case vs Stradcom"By Maila AgerINQUIRER.net11:45 am l Monday, October 10th, 2011
MANILA, Philippines – The government will file appropriate cases to recover the estimated P2 billion losses from the Land Transportation Office’s (LTO) deal with the Stradcom Corp., Transportation Secretary Mar Roxas disclosed during a budget hearing in the Senate on Monday. Stradcom is the information technology provider of the LTO. “The department position is that we will recoup all unauthorized exploitation of this database which is owned by the government. The only method for doing is through litigation. We will file the appropriate cases for restitution of these amounts,” Roxas told the Senate committee on finance. Roxas said they have already directed their legal department to go through The Stradcom contract line by line to find out exactly what were they authorized and not authorized to do, and whether any government approvals or concurrences were issued in the past. “The database is owned by the government and there ought not to be any unauthorized use or profit-making activity arising from this data without the concurrence, without the approval of the government,” he pointed out.”
In view of the said recently released COA report and the aforequoted news articles, the Court of Public Opinion dictates that legal action(s) must take place against public or private entities and those persons in the public and private sectors who allegedly participated or had been involved directly or indirectly in the now questionable BUILD-OWN-OPERATE AGREEMENT between STRADCOM AND LTO; so as to be able to determine whether or not their alleged acts and omissions shall lead to conviction or acquittal, and, whether or not the proper court/s shall award the recovery of the alleged estimated 2 Billion losses from the aforementioned Land Transportation Office (LTO) deal with the STRADCOM Corp.
IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE PUBLIC, LET JUSTICE BE SERVED!!!
By: LEON ESTRELLA PERALTA
Founding Chairman
Political and Human Rights Advocate
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