The Land Transportation Office (LTO) has ordered all its offices to stop using the Stradcom-operated information technology system and process motor vehicle, driver’s license, and other transactions exclusively through the government-owned Land Transportation Management System (LTMS).
The directive marks a reversal from the agency’s previous position of operating the two systems in parallel despite a May 29 order from the Office of the Ombudsman to discontinue the older platform.
In two memoranda dated Sept. 10, LTO assistant secretary Markus V. Lacanilao directed regional, district, and extension offices to immediately cease using the LTO-IT System.
Memorandum No. MVL-2026-208 covers motor vehicle registration renewals and all driver’s license transactions, including applications for new licenses, renewals, duplicate or replacement cards, and changes in information.
It also applies to miscellaneous transactions such as the correction of records, transfer of ownership, registration or cancellation of encumbrances, change of vehicle classification, and substitute registration.
“All Regional Offices, District/Extension Offices, and other LTO offices still utilizing the LTO-IT System… are hereby directed to immediately cease the use of the LTO-IT System for such transactions, and to process the same exclusively through the LTMS,” the memorandum stated.
A separate order, Memorandum No. MVL-2026-207, discontinued the Stradcom system at 19 Enhanced Driver’s Licensing System pilot sites and 42 designated Temporary Offsite Printing Offices.
It also required certificates of stock reports and new motor vehicle registrations, including do-it-yourself processing, to be handled solely through the LTMS.
The LTO likewise stopped the use of Matica printers connected to the Stradcom system for licenses renewed through the Online Driver’s License Renewal System in the eGovPH app. These transactions must now be processed and printed through the LTMS.
For locations without operational engravers or those using Matica laser engravers that have yet to be integrated with the LTMS, the agency ordered its offices to adopt interim or offsite printing arrangements.
The memoranda instructed offices to report system limitations, technical issues, and operational difficulties during the transition to the LTO Management Information Division.
The LTO did not explain in the orders why it changed its earlier position or why full compliance came more than three months after the Ombudsman issued its directive.
In August, LTO executive director Martin Ontog told lawmakers that the agency would continue operating the Stradcom platform alongside the LTMS while awaiting a Supreme Court ruling involving the government’s contract with German technology firm Dermalog Identification Systems GmbH, the developer of the LTMS.
That position directly contradicted the Ombudsman’s instruction to stop using the Stradcom system and process transactions exclusively through the LTMS.
The anti-graft office had given the LTO five days to submit a compliance report and warned that failure to follow the order could lead to administrative proceedings.
The government entered into a build-own-operate agreement with Stradcom in 1998. Its original concession expired in February 2013, but the system continued operating under subsequent arrangements even after the LTO accepted the LTMS in 2021.
The parallel operation of the platforms has come under scrutiny over computer fees collected from motorists. The Commission on Audit found that P13.38 billion in such fees was charged between 2019 and 2025.
In August, the Ombudsman preventively suspended former LTO chiefs Vigor Mendoza II and Teofilo Guadiz III over the continued use of the older platform. They face administrative charges for grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service. The suspensions are preventive and do not constitute a final finding of liability.
Coalition 169, which filed the complaint that led to the proceedings, has separately sought a legal review and possible refund of an estimated P28.56 billion in computer fees collected since the expiration of the original Stradcom concession in 2013.
The coalition’s estimate includes the P169.06 fee imposed on transactions processed through the older system. Its refund claims remain pending and have not been adjudicated.
