THE Office of the Ombudsman has issued a six-month, without-pay preventive suspension order against former Land Transportation Office (LTO) chiefs Vigor Mendoza II and Teofilo Guadiz III over the continued use of the STRADCOM-operated LTO information technology system, which resulted in an additional P13.3 billion in computer fees.
Mendoza is currently the chairman of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), while Guadiz currently serves as the chairperson of the Office of Transportation Cooperatives.
In an order dated August 17, 2026, the Ombudsman said it found sufficient grounds to suspend Mendoza and Guadiz, citing strong evidence showing their guilt in the administrative charges of Grave Misconduct and Conduct Prejudicial to the Best Interest of the Service.
It said the two officials demonstrated a patent disregard of established government policy and prior official directives intended to transition LTO operations to the Land Transportation Management System (LTMS) from the STRADCOM-operated LTO IT System.
The Ombudsman also noted that the Commission on Audit (COA) flagged the continued parallel use of the two systems, which resulted in the “non-maximization of the benefits” expected from the LTMS project.
“COA found that this caused an ‘additional burden and expense for the transacting public’ due to computer fees charged by STRADCOM, ‘which amounted to PhP13,379,196,499.73’ from 2019 to 2025,” the Ombudsman said.
In 2021, the LTMS was institutionalized as the government’s principal platform for motor vehicle registration, licensing, and related transportation transactions.
The Ombudsman said Guadiz, during his term as LTO chief in 2022, “favored” the use of STRADCOM, saying that “the old IT System provides a better solution.”
In 2023, during his term as LTO chief, the Ombudsman found that Mendoza issued several memoranda “effectively reviving and institutionalizing the continued use of the LTO IT System through a parallel utilization alongside the LTMS.”
The Ombudsman said Mendoza also issued a directive to process PUV registration renewals through the old system without requiring LTFRB confirmation.
“The suspension order was ordered to preserve documents and evidence that may be under the control or custody of the respondents and to prevent the possible commission of further malfeasance or misfeasance in office,” it said. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)