MANILA -  A government project seeking to install radio frequency identification tags on every vehicle in the country seems rushed and did not seek clearance from the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), two former government officials said Friday.

Former Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo noted that the RFID deal seems rushed since it did not go through the normal bidding process as required under the government procurement law.

"The administration is about to be changed so a lot of deals will be rushed," Marcelo said at the Philippine Bar Association's Law Day celebration Friday.

Under the Land Transportation Office RFID project, all vehicles will be given stickers containing a microchip that stores vehicle information. The chip allows traffic enforcers to identify and know everything about a specific vehicle with the speed of electronic computing.

Motorists will pay a one-time tagging fee of P350 when they register their vehicles. The RFID tag is expected to last 10 years.

Former Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ralph Recto, however, said the RFID project cannot be implemented next month since all heads of government agencies and state-owned and controlled corporations are required to consult the NEDA Board before imposing new fees or increasing existing ones.

"The RFID project of the Land Transportation Office, which increases fees and charges, did not go through the National Economic and Development Authority. Under existing laws, increases in fees and charges must go through NEDA evaluation to determine its reasonableness," he said in a statement released Friday.

Given the added costs for millions of Filipinos, Recto said the LTO should be more careful in implementing such a project.He added that the LTO cannot "just ram through" the project without the consent of the NEDA Board, which is chaired by President Arroyo.

"Six million vehicles will be required to pay higher fees on vehicle registration yearly, and 100,000 to 150,000 new vehicles are registered yearly. Millions of citizens will be affected by the new fees, which further highlight the need for it to undergo the proper process," Recto said.

"In effect, whoever is implementing the project must be powerful enough to have the guts to bypass the President. If the project has its merits and is imbued with public interest, then there is no harm in subjecting it to the process. The discovery of its beneficial traits will surface during the evaluation phase," he added.

LTO chief Arturo Lomibao earlier denied that the project was rushed since it was already being discussed as early as February. He added that the agency conducted several public hearings with various transport groups to get their reaction about the proposal.

He also said that the project need not undergo public bidding since Stradcom Corporation already won the bidding to implement all IT projects of the LTO until 2013.

Mixed views

Meanwhile, transport groups have mixed views regarding the implementation of the RFID system.

On one hand, Pasang Masda said public utility jeep (PUJ) operators are now spending as much as P4,000 for the registration of each of their units every year. This includes charges for registration (from P1,300 to P2,000), emission testing (P90), passenger insurance (about P1,000), and compulsory third party liability insurance (about P1,000).

According to Pasang Masda President Obet Martin, adding another P350 for the RFID technology would be an added burden. Instead, he proposed that the RFID be free of charge.

On the other hand, four transport group leaders and a party-list representative have expressed support for the RFID system.

In a manifesto published in major dailies on Friday, 1-UTAK Party-list Rep. Vigor Mendoza, Zenaida Maranan of the Federation of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines, Efren de Luna of the Alliance of Concerned Transport Organizations, and Melencio Vargas of the Alliance of Transport Operators Association of the Philippines said that the RFID system "will greatly benefit the transport sector."

Vince Dizon, Stradcom vice president for media and public relations, earlier explained that the RFID is part of the company's original contract to handle all technological requirements of the LTO. He said the original contract was bidded out in 1997 and provided for complete exclusivity to more effectively manage the agency's IT system.

Dizon denied that the RFID tags are not included in the original contract. "The RFID is simply an enhancement. It's part and parcel of the system that we have right now," he said in an ANC interview.

He added that it was the DOTC that asked for an RFID component "to address specific problems in the transportation industry including colorum vehicles, carjacking and other crimes involving vehicles and other issues regarding registration."

He also denied that the tags are overpriced, pointing out that the RFIDs are made specifically by a technology provider in Sweden. He said the RFIDs are high-speed tags that can be read from a distance of up to 10 meters even if the vehicle is moving at 140 kph.

"The reason why it is more expensive is that it is a very specialized and very specifically configured tag to suit the requirements of the LTO," he said.

Of the P350 price tag, he said most will go to the cost of the project, 12 percent goes to value-added tax while a portion will go to the LTO for its IT training project.

He said Stradcom will earn an estimated P60 million from the project in five years. With reports from Zen Hernandez and Jenny Reyes, ABS-CBN News