A QUEZON CITY court has stopped the Land Transportation Office (LTO) from awarding the supply contract for driver’s license cards to the winning bidder.
“I see this as a temporary setback,” LTO Chief Vigor D. Mendoza II told a news briefing in Filipino on Thursday. He vowed to clear up the matter at the next court hearing on Aug. 22 so the LTO could resolve the shortage in driver’s license cards.
“The cessation in the delivery of the cards will cause a delay, instead of us being able to address the problem now,” Mr. Mendoza said. “So, we will have to resort to temporary measures like extending the validity of existing licenses.”
The trial court issued the 20-day restraining order based on a petition filed by disqualified bidder Allcard, Inc. Named respondents in the lawsuit were the LTO, the bids and awards committee of the Transportation department and rival Banner Plasticard, Inc., which won the P219.24-million contract to supply materials for 5.2 million driver’s licenses.
AllCard said it was disqualified even if it had offered the lowest bid. – Justine Irish D. Tabile
