The BS Aquino administration seems so fond of small ladies, whether fictitious or real. One such small lady was mentioned during the impeachment trial where a congressman alleged that some documents were handed to him by a small lady. Another is a mysterious small lady who left some documents at the gate of another congressman in his Loyola Heights home. Now another small lady that figured out in a very high profile controversy is the small lady of the Land Transportation Office (LTO), and mind you, this small lady is not fictitious, she is for real and she’s got big plans but most have gained notoriety in our current day to day life. She’s none other than the best friend and shooting buddy of his Excellency BS Aquino, Ms. Virginia Torres.
Charlie Manalo of the Tribune called her, the most controversial official. If we recall, Ms Torres got involved in illegall and forcible takeover the facilities of Stradcom, a company owned by Mr. Cesar Quiambao. Torres tried to help the Sumbilla group, a group claiming ownership of Stradcom to forcibly open the offices of Quiambao’s Stradcom and  entered its premises aided by LTO security forces. For this notorious act, Department of Justice (DoJ) Secretary Leila de Lima recommended the filing of both administrative and criminal cases and dismissal of Torres from government service.
Apart from de Lima’s recommendation, the DoJ fact-finding committee headed by Undersecretary Baraan III also recommended the filing of charges against Torres for gross negligence and to undergo a 60-day preventive suspension. But all these charges against Torres were brushed aside by her best friend, President BS despite his professing the daang matuwid slogan  and reinstated Torres to LTO without the slightest reprimand or slap in the hand, thereby virtually ignoring the recommendation of the DoJ.
Earlier in 2009, Torres also faced charges of alleged falsification of public documents filed by the Highway Patrol Group. Torres was said to have caused the alleged illegal registration of a sport utility vehicle. However, the case was overtaken by the BS Aquino administration such that the case against Torres vanished in thin air.
And just recently, Torres struck again. This time she did a Pontius Pilate by washing  her hands off responsibility for allowing Amalgamated Motors Philippines Inc. (AMPI), the drivers license contractor to go ahead in introducing changes in the existing form of the drivers license. It was alleged that AMPI was shifting from the old PVC design to a paper-type license. Such shift would entail the upgrade of Ampi’s facilities such as computers, printers and laminators used in manufacturing driver’s licenses. The upgrade will enhance the LTO identification system that would make the license cards more secure, environment-friendly and better looking. However in the course of the shift, just like any new undertaking, some glitches did occur which somehow caused the delay in the issuance of new drivers licenses thereby causing strong unfavorable reaction from the public. Because of this, the LTO figured in public ridicule. In order to avert such backlash, Torres immediately pretended she had no knowledge of the changes being introduced by AMPI. She then accused Ampi of an unauthorized undertaking. She immediately tried to twist the facts and made herself look innocent before the Secretary of DoTC, Mar Roxas. And believing her lies, Mar Roxas immediately reacted against Ampi, as if it was the sole responsible person in this fiasco.
However the truth will not disappear. Ampiwas able to show that Torres lied. Ampi, thru a letter written by Torres addressed to Mr. Cuevas, admitted she had authorized the changes to be made. Torres said in the letter that she appreciated Ampi’s gesture to upgrade the the system and the form of the driver’s license. And because of the changes, Torres said in her letter to Cuevas, she was forming a driver’s license review committee to assess, review and coordinate with Ampi. So Torres lied to the people and to Secretary Mar Roxas, such that she should be investigated for that and meted the proper penalty this time.
If we are to ask who is more credible, is it Ampi or Torres, certainly the answer is obvious, after all the notoriety that Torres has been capable of, Ampi should be believed as telling the truth. Ampi has been the  corporate partner of the LTO for more than 20 years and supplier of the country’s professional and non-professional driver’s license. For the last 20 years it has provided affordable drivers licenses to the Filipino driving public. Ampi has continuously evolved with the requirements of the LTO and continues to do so with the current systems upgrade.
It appears that the system upgrade that Ampi wants to undertake is really toward a good direction for our drivers in the country. Except for the temporary glitch that happened in its initial stage of transformation, I found its move very commendable.
According to Ampi’s statement which I found in the Internet, the new license cards which it will introduce will have more security marks and features. Among these are the proprietary bi-metal foil as used in money and other security documents. Ampi has responded to the calls from both the government and the general public for improvements on the license cards, specifically the age of equipment to address obsolescence, card quality, printing quality, and avoidance of fake card proliferation.