CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — A coalition of leaders in the transport industry wants the head of Land Transportation Office (LTO) Vigor Mendoza II ousted.
In a statement obtained by Pampanga News Now, the Coalition for Good Governance had asked President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to remove Mendoza II from his position at LTO as they alleged corruption that rocked the government
In a document obtained few days ago, Martin de los Angeles, vice president of the Philippines Transport Monitor (PTM), Diolito Inosanto, president of the Federation of Land Transport Operators of the Philippines (FELTOP), and Augusto Lagman, a board director of the Automobile Association of the Philippines (AAP), alleged that Mendoza has “allowed many more anomalous transactions to happen” as they pointed out to the previous “outdated LTO-IT system”.
“A culture of corruption and impunity is again taking over the LTO,” they said in a statement.
“We, the Coalition for Good Governance wrote an open letter to President Bongbong Marcos last January 25, 2024, asking for the LTO chief’s (Mendoza) removal. A group of transport and consumer leaders also appealed to the President and the German government in an open letter last February 6, 2024 regarding anomalies and alleged corruption in the LTO by the same LTO chief,” the group said.
“Without any preventive actions from the leadership in government, the LTO chief has allowed many more anomalous transactions to happen using the previous outdated LTO-IT system,” it added.
While the statement did not give specific cases of corruption, the LTO has been embroiled in controversies in its utilization of two IT systems in license and motor vehicle registration. One is the government-owned Land Transportaion Management Systems (LTMS) and the other system by Stradcom Corporation.
In published reports, Mendoza denied the corruption allegations. He stressed that these issues had been addressed since his appointment in July 2023.
Mendoza cited improvements in online transaction consolidation and increased production of license plates to address backlogs in supply. He acknowledged the group’s right to voice complaints. But he argued that substantiating the allegations would be challenging.
The LTO’s Transportation District Officers Association of the Philippines also vehemently denied the corruption allegations. The association stressed the need for aggressive policy reforms to address digitalization challenges.
In late 2021, former LTO Assistant Secretary Edgar Galvante issued a memorandum to decommission Stradcom’s outdated systems in favor of the government-owned Land Transportation Management System (LTMS).
The LTMS is designed for operational efficiency and fraud prevention.
The government invested almost P8 billion for the LTMS.
