With the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) admitting legal questions in the implementation of the radio frequency identification (RFID) proposal, a senior administration congressman asked Malacañang for a permanent ban on the Land Transportation Office (LTO) project.

At Wednesday’s plenary deliberation on the proposed P1.5-trillion national budget for 2010, Agusan del Sur Rep. Rodolfo Plaza was able to get an admission from the National Economic Development Authority that the RFID plan was not submitted for mandatory review and approval by the Investment Coordinating Council.

LTO has planned to use RFID technology on all land vehicles, saying that the sticker chip would be helpful in stamping out car theft and in preventing the registration of illegally-acquired vehicles.

However, President Arroyo ordered the project shelved in response to a strong public outcry against its implementation.

Congressmen led by Bayan Muna Rep. Teodoro Casino said the project was grossly overpriced and would only benefit Stradcom, an LTO contractor.

At the plenary debates on the 2010 budget, Plaza pointed out that it would be illegal for Stradcom and LTO to pursue the project because it is not covered by the computerization contract project entered by the two agencies.

Pegged at a cost at least P1.9 billion, the RFID project is not included in the terms of reference and the provisions of the contract entered into by Stradcom and LTO.

Pangasinan Rep. Mark Cojuangco, who sponsored the NEDA budget, admitted that the project required an ICC approval. He added that NEDA officials admitted that the LTO failed to get an ICC clearance when it amended the contract with Stradcom.

Reacting to Cojuangco’s response to his queries, Plaza demanded that the RFID contract be reviewed or totally shelved.

“I would like to urge NEDA to take steps in stopping the implementation of the RFID plan. Otherwise, it faces accusations of closing its eyes and running away from responsibility that all projects should have their approval,” he said.

Earlier, Casino said vehicle owners should be spared of the additional P350 that the LTO will collect for the RFID tag.

“We find the LTO tagging scheme suspicious. First, it seems that this plan to tag vehicles with RFID materialized only this year,” Casino said. “Can this be another midnight deal that members of the Arroyo administration have cooked up in preparation for 2010? Why were there no public hearings?”

Casino claimed that the LTO did not conduct a public bidding for a multi-million peso project and instead relied on the so-called computerization expertise of Stradcom.