The Land Transportation Office (LTO) is actively pursuing a full government takeover of the Land Transportation Management System (LTMS) from the German contractor Dermalog.
According to LTO Chief Assistant Secretary Vigor D. Mendoza II, his office has initiated this move in line with the government’s push to digitalize all government transactions and enhance service delivery.
The LTMS, which was contracted to Dermalog in 2019, is responsible for handling various transactions within the LTO.
Mendoza said by bringing the system under complete government control, the LTO could expedite the resolution of technical issues previously raised by the Commission on Audit (COA) and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).
“Our IT experts are capable of operating and maintaining the system. In fact, they are the ones who have been working and continue to work on improving the system to make it user-friendly and to fully utilize our online platform,” he said.
He noted that significant progress has already been made in the digitization of LTO services. For instance, driver’s license issuance has already reached 100 percent under the LTMS, while motor vehicle registration renewal has increased from 70 percent to 95 percent in July 2023.
The LTO’s current focus, Mendoza noted, is on enhancing the registration of newly registered units (NRUs), which currently stands at 60 percent under the LTMS.
He said the agency is determined to achieve full digital transactions by the end of November this year, a move that is expected to streamline system maintenance and result in cost savings.
Mendoza highlighted the substantial government investment of over P3 billion in the LTMS and emphasized the need to address the 14 deficiencies and 166 needed enhancements identified by the DICT assessment and evaluation of the system.
To facilitate the government takeover, Mendoza has created a Technical Working Group, and it is in the final phase of reviewing and assessing the system for full implementation in November.
“We can definitely take over. In fact, this is the reason why I created a Technical Working Group, and right now, we are in the final phase of review and assessment for full implementation by next month,” said Mendoza.
Addressing recent statements attributed to a representative of Dermalog, Mendoza refuted claims that LTO personnel have been resistant to using the LTMS.
“This is not true. I have personally witnessed the dedication of our frontline employees, so it is unfair to issue inaccurate statements like that,” he said.