DOJ probe sought into questionable contract for license plates

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—A cause oriented group urged Justice Secretary Leila De Lima to look into complaints filed before her department in connection with a multi-billion peso supply contract for motor vehicle license plates.

In a  four-page letter to De Lima, the Anti-Trapo Movement of the Philippines (ATM), led by Leon Peralta, said they wanted to know what happened to their complaints for forgery and falsification against officials of the Power Plates Development Concept Inc. led by its president Christian Calalang.

The complaint was in connection with the alleged forgery committed in 2004 by the company to convince other government agencies that it had been given authority to issue and sell commemorative motor vehicle license plates.

“Power Plates transmitted and presented forged document to the LTO (Land Transportation Office) and the DOTC (Department of Transportation and Communication). It manufactured the commemorative plates on the basis of the forged document and Power Plates financially benefited from the sale of the commemorative plates,” the group said in a statement Thursday.

It expressed concern that the company’s involvement in the anomalous supply contract may result in similar situations in the future.

“The proliferation of fraudulent license plates has long been the bane in our country, resulting to numerous incidences of criminality,” the group said.

The second complaint involves the discrepancies in the documents submitted by the firm to the government to allegedly make it appear that it was qualified in terms of existing capital  to undertake the multi-billion peso contract for the supply of motor vehicle license plates.