MANILA – The operations of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) were disrupted Thursday due to a corporate dispute involving Stradcom Corporation, the agency's information technology provider.
The tension started when a group of businessmen, led by Aderito Yujuico and Bonifacio Sumbilla, pushed their way into Stradcom's main office in Quezon City.
The company's own security guards barred them from entering, resulting in a shouting and shoving match that lasted until the arrival of policemen from the Quezon City Police District (QCPD).
Four gunshots were also heard during the fracas.
LTO Chief Virginia Torres said the tension made their database inaccessible for several hours, disrupting the agency's operations.
Stradcom handles a database of all vehicles registered with the LTO.
Torres, however, assured the public that their operations will continue despite the ongoing squabble at Stradcom. In the meantime, the LTO may have to waive penalties for motorists whose transactions were affected by the incident.
She also urged Stradcom Corp. to "settle its intra-corporate dispute at the soonest time possible," or the LTO will be forced to terminate its contract with them.
"While I do not wish to meddle with their internal affairs, I will be forced to make some concrete actions if only to ensure that our services will not be compromised" Torres said.
A contingent from QCPD special weapons and tactics responded to the scene, while a civil disturbance management unit was also deployed during the standoff.
Stradcom Corp. earlier issued an official statement saying "Stradcom would like to inform that some persons, namely Yujuico, Sumbilla, Diney Sumbilla, Rodolfo Millare, Ronnie Bilang, Enrico Bilang, Egy Geron and Jer Samsom have been circulating falsified documents saying that they are now stockholders, board of directors and officers of the company." (AH/Sunnex)
