If LTMS shuts down, expect issues and long waits at LTO, says transport advocate
LTMS shutdown may disrupt LTO operations big time
A road safety advocate has expressed alarm over a possible shutdown of the LTO's (Land Transportation Office) IT infrastructure called Land Transportation Management System (LTMS) should the Supreme Court decide in favor of a petition to scrap it.
Should this unfortunate situation occur, road safety advocate Martin Nico de los Angeles says this would bring back the LTO to manual processing of transactions.
Earlier this year, a petition was filed to the Supreme Court (SC) asking to scrap the joint venture agreement between the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and Dermalog. Dermalog is the German company that supplied the LTO with its new IT system, the Land Transportation Management System (LTMS).
The petition, which the SC received on December 2023, claimed that the IT deal was “flawed at inception,” and that the implementation of the agreement was a threat to national security. The petitioners are Atty. Carlito Montenegro and jeepney operator Gerald Domingo.
“There will be no driver’s license that can be issued or renewed. No motor vehicle can be registered or renewed. Why? Because nothing will be connected,” said de los Angeles in a statement.
According to de los Angeles, the LTMS is a complex system with 400 LTO sites connected in a centralized and highly secure IT system. Data from LTO stakeholders, involving thousands of motor vehicle dealers, medical clinics, driving schools, as well as, hundreds of private motor vehicle inspection centers, and insurance companies are processed through the LTMS. Even motorists can access and manage their data through the LTMS.
Angeles also added that over 200 new LTO sites have been inaugurated during the past 5 years and none of these offices use the old IT system.
“No validation or verification can happen even in a manual system since all data is stored in LTMS. If you try to use any IT system that has no security controls, then fraudulent transactions will happen. Without any IT system in place or at worse to try to reinstate a clearly vulnerable one, LTO can’t process any transactions and the government will suddenly lose much-needed collections from the fourth largest revenue earner,” said de los Angeles.
LTO offices ready
In response to de los Angeles, the Transportation District Officers Association of the Philippines (TDOAP) – which is a group composed of LTO officers and employees – assured that in the event of LTMS shutdown, LTO will still be business as usual and they are even ready to render extra office hours, if necessary.
“Even if there’s an LTMS shutdown, we are confident that our operations will continue with the use of parallel systems, like what we already did in the past,” says TDOAP.
“We are ready and with whole-hearted dedication, we will extend our office hours so that we can fully utilize the alternative solutions and mitigate the possible delays that we will encounter [in the event of LTMS shutdown].”
