THE Land Transportation Office (LTO) Bacolod, together with private firm Stradcom, is set to brief transport sector and the public about the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) scheme in Wednesday’s meeting at the O Hotel in Bacolod City.

LTO Bacolod chief Norman Saril said Tuesday the objective of Wednesday’s meeting is “to clarify the issues with regard the RFID project as well as to aid the LTO in increasing the awareness of the transacting public”.

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RFID “is the use of an object (typically referred to as an RFID tag) applied to or incorporated into a product, animal or person for the purpose of identification and tracking using radio waves. Some tags can be read from several meters away and beyond the line of sight of the reader.”

“Most RFID tags contain at least two parts. One is an integrated circuit for storing and processing information, modulating and demodulating a radio-frequency (RF) signal and other specialized functions. The second is an antenna for receiving and transmitting the signal”.

The project was criticized by then National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) chief Ralph Recto, saying the scheme was not approved by Neda.

“Whoever is implementing a new vehicle registration system for motorists that use cutting-edge technology must be powerful enough to have the guts to bypass the President,” said Recto.

RFID would require a P350 fee if approved for implementation.

Stradcom, the contractor of RFID project, defended the project despite questions raised by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) about its systems, saying that perhaps, the project was “misunderstood”.

To represent Stradcom in Wednesday’s meeting is its coordinator for Western Visayas Lee Robert Britanico.

Saril said perhaps, the people must first understand the mechanics and how the project could work and benefit the transporting public before any criticism is hurled against said initiative.

 LTO also clarified that the last say-so on whether to implement or reject the project would be the Palace and the Department of Transportation and Communications.