House members still want to grill resigned LTO chief

THE NEWLY resigned chief of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) responsible for the backlog in driver’s license cards and defective vehicle plates is not yet off the hook, according to some lawmakers.

House members still want to summon Alfonso Tan Jr. to a congressional inquiry that would pinpoint the root cause of the controversies surrounding the production of license cards and vehicle plates during his four-year stint as head of the LTO.

Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares said Congress should look into these issues because replacing or kicking out the LTO chief was not the solution.

“Over the past few years, transportation groups and the Commission on Audit (COA) have questioned some LTO projects like the slow production of driver's license cards and car plates. These anomalies will only be repeated, that’s why we should investigate them now,” Colmenares said.

He was referring to the license plate production deal between the LTO and Dutch-Filipino consortium PPI-JKG Philippines Inc. which was stopped by the COA for violation of the Government Procurement Reform Act.

Under Tan, the LTO also suffered a legal setback in the Manila Regional Trial Court which suspended the license card contract awarded to Allcard for lack of a budget to bankroll the project. The COA also stopped the LTO from paying its longtime card supplier, Amalgamated Motors Philippines Inc., which has been getting the contract annually without any bidding.

In a report on Saturday, Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya confirmed that Tan had voluntarily resigned—and “wasn’t sacked”—and would be replaced by Robert Cabrera, executive director of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board.

Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano III said that with Tan out of the LTO, he could be more “open” in revealing the true cause of the backlog or be pictured as a “fall guy” in the LTO's failures.

Kabataan Rep. Terry Ridon said that ultimately, President Aquino and Abaya would have to take responsibility for these controversies.