Group studies graft charges vs. LTO over RFID

Militant groups are considering filing graft and corruption charges against officials who approved and collected fees for an electronic vehicle identification system that was later stopped by the Supreme Court. Bayan Muna party-list – one of the organizations that opposed the government’s radio frequency ID (RFID) program – are studying whether they can charge Land Transportation Office (LTO) officials for collecting P350 from motorists as early as January 4. At a weekly press conference in Quezon City, Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo said there had been an "abuse in authority" in collecting fees for stickers containing microchips that will store information about motorists and their vehicles. Ocampo, a senatorial candidate running under the slate of the Nacionalista Party, said the group’s lawyers are still studying who to include in the charges, which he said will be filed "as soon as possible." In a separate press conference, LTO chief Arturo Lomibao said he “welcomed" Bayan Muna’s proposed move, since it will give them “the change to argue our case and air our side." In the meantime, Gabriela Rep. Liza Maza urged the House Committees on Transportation and Information and Communications Technology to immediately act on House Resolution No. 129. The resolution tasks the committees to investigate the RFID program, which allegedly underwent a "shady bidding process" sans public consultation. On Monday, the high court issued a status quo ante order that would restore the prevailing situation prior to the implementation of the RFID program in response to the petition of Bayan Muna, Gabriela, and Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (Piston). The order effectively barred the LTO from further levying fees on motorists. With the high court's order, the LTO should immediately allow motorists who have already paid for their RFID tags to refund their money, Ocampo and fellow Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño said. "The LTO should give motorists who already paid for the RFID [radio frequency ID] tag the option to outrightly refund their money or charge it to future collections," Casiño said in a text message to reporters. Ocampo maintained, however, that should the LTO allow refunds, such an action "does not absolve them." For its part, the LTO has yet to decide whether it would refund the fees as the agency still does not have a copy of the Supreme Court decision, Lomibao said. He added that the ruling was not yet final and executory, as the high court had asked the LTO, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), and private contractor Stradcom Corp. to submit their comments within 10 days. SC spokesperson Midas Marquez said Monday that “there is no order for LTO to reimburse the motorists because the issue on the merit of the case is still pending." Marquez, however, said it would be up to the LTO to reimburse motorists who have already paid for their RFID stickers. Vehicles owners can seek refunds since the Court’s order is to restore the situation prior to its implementation, he said. The LTO believes the RFID program will help the government solve car theft and other transport-related cases faster than the previous method, since it would allow the agency to easily detect anomalies in vehicle information. Under the RFID program, the LTO will charge P350 for all of the country’s 4,760,593 vehicles, raising P1.6 billion for the agency. The LTO is reportedly the national government’s third largest revenue earner, next to the Bureaus of Internal Revenue and Customs. - with reports from Ivan Mayrina, GMANews.TV