A GROUP has asked the Justice department to prosecute former and incumbent officials of the Department of Transportation and Communications for what it calls the anomalous implementation of the P3.8-billion Land Transportation Office-Motor Vehicle License Plate Standardization Program.
The Citizens Crime Watch accuses former Transport Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya and his co-respondents of corruption unethical conduct.
Abaya aside the other respondents in the complaint are former Transport undersecretaries Jose Perpetuo Lotilla, Rene Limcaoco, Assistant Secretary and Bids and Awards Committee member Dante Lantin, corporate counsel of the Filipino-Dutch consortium J. Knieriem B.V. Goes and Power Plates Development Concept Inc.’s Ron Salo.
Also named as respondents in the complaint were Julianito Bucayan, DoTC-BAC member; Catherine Jennifer Gonzales, overall head of the BAC-Secretariat; and Alfonso Tan, former chief of the Land Transportation Office.
CCW, through its representatives Carlo Batalla and Diego Magpantay, says the charges against the respondents stemmed from the resolution issued by the Justice Department on Aug. 26, 2016, which ordered the indictment of the officials of the PPDCI and JKG for estafa through falsification of commercial documents, false testimony and perjury and violation of R.A. 9184 based on the complaint filed by the Anti-Trapo Movement of the Philippines.
The department held that the officials of JKG-PPDCI conspired to submit falsified documents and false information to the BAC of the DoTC-LTO to be able to bag the contract for the supply and delivery of motor vehicle license plates.
“Since its implementation in 2014, all motor vehicle owners were required to replace their license plates on the date required for the renewal registration of their motor vehicles. Thus, the hapless Filipino people paid for P450 for a pair of regular plates and P120 for a motorcycle plate, all for non-existent plates, the complaint says.
CCW says the respondents failed to conduct post- qualification of the winning bidder, contrary to the recommendations of the Technical Working Group.
“Had the BAC allowed the post qualification, the DoTC could have had the financial capability to manufacture the license plates under the MVLPSP Project, the complainant says.
“It can be inferred that the DoTC-BAC have acted in manifest partiality towards the PPDCI-JKG joint venture.”
CCW accuses the members of the DoTC-BAC of awarding the contract to PPDCI-JKG despite the false documents submitted by the joint venture.
