Spurned ID supplier fires back, touts ‘impressive’ track record
Facing blacklisting from government procurement following the termination of its national identification card supply contract, AllCard Inc. (ACI) on Monday touted its track record of projects, highlighting its long line of success.
The company supplying national ID cards under the Philippine Identification System—recently fired by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), which cited failure to deliver obligations—described its performance over the years as “impressive” when it comes to delivering card solutions across various sectors.
“Our record stands as a testament to our capability and reliability in the card printing industry,” ACI president Roy Ebora said in a statement. “Our portfolio of successful projects demonstrates our expertise and ability to meet our clients’ needs. We have successfully printed cards for major institutions including Social Security System, Government Service Insurance System UMID (Unified Multipurpose ID) cards, Pag-Ibig Loyalty cards and Land Transportation Office driver’s licenses,” he added.
Further, the company said it has produced Europay, Mastercard and Visa automated teller machine cards and credit cards for eight out of the top 10 banks in the Philippines. It has also served more than 200 educational institutions and provided card solutions for numerous commercial and retail entities, added the firm.
Central bank claims damages
The BSP, in a termination notice dated Aug. 15, ended the contract with ACI, citing a purported “failure to deliver any or all of the goods specified in the contract, amounting to more than 10 percent of the contract price.”
The BSP said the fiasco had resulted in a production loss of P1.06 billion, equivalent to 49.91 percent of the P2.1-billion contract it had awarded to ACI.
Aside from terminating the contract, the central bank is also seeking P641 million in reparation. ACI, for its part, denied being the primary cause of delays, adding it should not be blamed for the setbacks in the national ID project.
“This dispute has been well documented, escalated, and coordinated with the BSP as early as 2021 and was formally escalated to the BSP since 2022, with no response from the BSP up to this time,” ACI said. “Despite our efforts to coordinate and resolve the problem with the BSP to address the issue, the dispute remained unresolved for over a year and affected the overall card production schedule,” it added.
The company said it has no other recourse but to bring the dispute with BSP for arbitration.
