DOTC to file raps vs Stradcom for LTO's P2B losses

(Updated 5:10 p.m.) Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) Secretary Mar Roxas said the DOTC will be filing charges against information technology (IT) service provider Stradcom to recover the alleged P2 billion losses of the Land Transportation Office (LTO). During Monday's Senate finance committee hearing on the proposed budget of the DOTC for 2012, Roxas said their legal team is preparing the case against Stradcom. LTO chief Virgina Torres claimed that in its deal with Stradcom from 2007 to 2011, the LTO lost around P2 billion which was used to pay interconnectivity fees. "The DOTC is already making the final review of the contract with Secretary Mar," she said. Roxas said, "The department's position is that we will recoup all unauthorized exploitation of this database which is owned by the government. We will file the appropriate charges for (the) restitution of these amounts." Roxas said he cannot yet reveal other details about the case and its merits. "Without revealing in too open a session the legal strategy and legal tactics, we would be happy to reveal to your honor the legal position of the department in private or executive session," he told Senator Panfilo Lacson, who had posed questions about Stradcom during the hearing. Lacson said he understood the position of Roxas. Stradcom replies In a statement sent to reporters later in the day, Stradcom spokesperson Margaux Salcedo said that they were shocked to hear that the DOTC will be suing them for unauthorized exploitation of the database. Still, Salcedo said they welcome any investigation of the case because it was the DOTC that asked Stradcom to provide interconnectivity services from other government agencies to the LTO. "Stradcom cannot be accused of 'unauthorized exploitation of the database' when the authorization came from the DOTC and LTO themselves," she said. Salcedo likewise said that Stradcom had even proposed an income-sharing scheme with the LTO wherein the government would get a revenue share of 20 percent. "Stradcom has never wanted to deprive the government of any income. In fact, as early as September 2010, Stradcom had already issued (the) proposal to the DOTC addressed to then-DOTC Sec. Ping de Jesus," she said. In the same statement, Stradcom president Cezar Quiambao added that Stradcom’s interconnectivity system increased the incomes of agencies that used it and the income of the national government through the taxes imposed. "In the issuance of fake insurance policies alone, Stradcom’s interconnectivity facility has ensured the authenticity of over P3 Billion annually in insurance premiums for which government would have otherwise lost tax revenues due to unscrupulous practices of fake insurance agents. Stradcom also effectively has aided directly in protecting the public from fake insurance agents who leave innocent civilians hanging when they make their claims," he said. Aside from this, he said Stradcom assures the government P77.8M in annual VAT revenues from emission testing centers; P5.908 billion in taxes and insurance policy premiums from 2007 to 2010; P4.4 million annually in franchise payments to the LTFRB; and P60 million annually from the settlement of penalties for confiscated drivers' licenses. — VVP/RSJ, GMA News