Ombudsman suspends LTFRB chief, OTC chair over P13.3-B computer fees

MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the Ombudsman has ordered the six-month preventive suspension without pay of Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) Chairman Vigor Mendoza II and Office of Transportation Cooperatives (OTC) Chairperson Teofilo Guadiz III over the continued use of an outdated information technology system that cost motorists P13.3 billion in additional computer fees.

In a press briefing on Tuesday, August 18, Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano said that the Ombudsman found strong evidence supporting administrative charges for grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service against both officials, who previously served as heads of the Land Transportation Office (LTO).

“The case involves their actions as former chiefs of the Land Transportation Office and the continued use of the STRADCOM-operated LTO IT System despite the implementation and acceptance of its replacement, the Land Transportation Management System or LTMS,” Clavano said.

According to Clavano, the central issue stems from the prolonged reliance on the old LTO IT System, operated by private contractor STRADCOM Corporation, despite the turnover and official acceptance of its government-owned replacement, LTMS.

Citing findings by the Commission on Audit (COA), the Ombudsman said that the parallel utilization of both systems prevented the government from maximizing the benefits of the LTMS project.

Furthermore, COA revealed that transacting motorists paid an additional P13,379,196,499.73 in computer fees collected by STRADCOM between 2019 and 2025, which became an “additional burden and expense for the transacting public.”

“The government’s original 10-year agreement with STRADCOM expired in February 2013, while a 2016 Phase Out Agreement allowed its continued use only while the LTO had no fully operational replacement IT system nationwide,” Clavano said.

Despite directives to phase out the software, the Ombudsman found that Guadiz advocated for the old system during his tenure as LTO chief in 2022, asserting that "the old IT System provides a better solution."

When Mendoza took over as LTO chief in 2023, he issued several memoranda that "effectively revived and institutionalized the continued use of the LTO IT System through a parallel utilization alongside the LTMS,” according to the Ombudsman.

By January 2025, Mendoza directed that public utility vehicle (PUV) registration renewals be processed using the old system without requiring LTFRB confirmation, extending the generation and collection of computer fees past the BOO agreement’s expiration.

The preventive suspension is immediately executory, according to the Ombudsman.

• Latest
• Trending