CONGRESSMEN questioned the Land Transportation Office’s driver’s license card project, particularly the rationale of having two separate contracts for license cards valid for five years and for three years validity cards and the security features of the cards.
At a congressional hearing, Tarlac Rep. Noel Villanueva asked LTO officials, led by their chief Assistant Secretary Edgar Galvante, why there were separate contracts for the printing of the five-year license cards and that of three-year license cards.
“Can’t it be done in a single contract? Isn’t it an added expense to government that there is a three-year validity contract and a five-year validity contract?” Villanueva said during the hearing.
“May we know how much is the contract for the printing of five-year validity license cards. In the terms of reference [TOR], the purpose of the contract is to produce 8.5 million driver’s license cards which are secured and tamper-resistant,” said Villanueva.
Galvante said they separated the three-year card from the five-year validity card because they are introducing a security measure. “We are thinking of incorporating a chip on the card itself. In terms of quality, it has polycarbonate material which is more durable,” said Galvante.
Galvante said the cost is P187.08 million but Villanueva noted that that was only for one contract and both contracts will cost the government more than P800 million.
“The backlog plus the five-year validity license card will cost the project more than P800 million,” he said, demanding that the LTO discard the system after the printing of the three-year license cards is completed.
For his part, Samar Rep. Edgar Mary Sarmiento, committee vice chairman, asked Galvante if the license cards are tamper-proof. “We do not want people to go to Recto to get their driver’s license. Do you have features in the IDs to make them tamper-proof,” Sarmiento asked.
Galvante said they had presented samples of PVC card and polycarbonate card which is a little costlier. The material of the new license card with five-year validity costs P100 while the PVC card costs P67.
Asked about the difference between the PVC and polycarbonate card, Galvante said the PVC card is “malleable, not durable and has a life span of three years.”
The polycarbonate card, on the other hand, may last up to 10 years and is very durable, he said. “The design of the two cards is basically the same. But in terms of security features, the polycarbonate card, instead of using the barcode, will be chip-based with more security features that are hard to replicate,” he said.