Another bidder for LTO project disqualified

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) disqualified the company that gave the second lowest bid for the P8.2-billion road information technology infrastructure project of the Land Transportation Office (LTO).

The DOTC disqualified Fritz & Macziol after it failed the post-qualification process under Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Act.

Fritz & Macziol’s disqualification came two months after the Bids and Awards Committee let go of another bidder, Digitext Asia Corp., for failing to secure a mayor’s permit and for not submitting the bill of quantities of items proposed.

DOTC Undersecretary Jose Perpetuo Lotilla said they also dismissed the motion for reconsideration filed by Digitext Asia.

The lone qualified bidder for the project is Eurolink Network, which submitted a P5.8-billion bid. Eurolink’s bid has yet to be evaluated. Fritz &Macziol’s bid was P5.3 billion, while Digitext Asia’s was P3.8 billion. The bids submitted by Kaisa Consulting and Ceragon Network were not opened due to lack of requirements.

The bidding was supposed to have been conducted in February following the expiration of LTO’s contract with Stradcom Corp. It was delayed after the Quezon City regional trial court issued a temporary restraining order in May 2012.

The DOTC extended the contract of Stradcom while the TRO was in place.

The Court of Appeals overturned the lower court’s ruling in October, however.

The DOTC wants to replace the agency’s 13-year-old IT system to improve its capability to track stolen vehicles and prevent double registration, among others.

The LTO awarded the contract to Stradcom in 1998, but the firm went through ownership struggle. The Commission on Audit reported P2 billion in “unauthorized” interconnectivity fees that were billed from 2007 to 2011 against the DOTC, LTO and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board.  

Under a new deal, the contractor will provide 3,000 computers, storage facilities and a software for LTO’s record-keeping and data management. The government will keep the equipment. – Rappler.com