Senator Richard Gordon berated former and current officials of the Land Transportation Office and the Department of Transportation for the delay in the production and distribution of vehicle license plates.
“The sufferings of the public – whoever causes damage to third parties and other agencies – amounts to (an) anti-graft (case),” he said.
“Since this involved a huge amount of money, there can be plunder. That’s what we are looking into,” added Gordon, chairman of the powerful Senate Blue Ribbon Committee.
In a television interview, Gordon enumerated numerous violations committed by officials from both the Aquino and Duterte administrations.
He said the DOTr in 2013 opened the bidding for the procurement of license plates even without budget appropriation.
He said former Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya and Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Jose Lotilla then signed a multi-year contract with PPI-JKG without securing a Multi-Year Obligational Authority from the Department of Budget and Management.
The Commission on Audit called the procurement transaction “irregular and illegal,” and disallowed an advance payment to PPI-JKG worth P478 million.
A Supreme Court restraining order halted the production of license plates for both motor vehicles and motorcycles in 2016.
“This is the fault of the LTO and the DOTr,” the senator said.