DOTr, LTO Finally Release Motor Vehicle Plates Today

Good news to all vehicle owners--the Department of Transportation (DOTr) via the Land Transportation Office (LTO), is finally releasing the first batch of motor vehicle plates that were registered on July 2016 this afternoon, July 5.

According to the DOTr, motor vehicles registered from this date can claim their plates at "the Authorized District Office (ADO) or through their respective dealers."

LTO Assistant Secretary Edgar Galvante added that motor vehicle plates registered from July 31 to October 2016 is disseminated by group to regional offices (ROs), and allocated to district offices (DOs).

"The LTO will deliver the plates by batch to the ROs as soon as they become available to make the release at the DOs continuous," said Galvante.

Long overdue

The release of motor vehicle plates has long been overdue, and is a consistent "thorn on the side" for LTO. In fact, solving the backlog of license plates has been one of DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade's top priorities the moment he assumed post.

"Itong problema na ito ay matagal na inireklamo at idinaing ng mga kababayan natin. Sino ba naman ang matutuwa na nagbabayad ka ng tama tapos aabutin ng siyam- siyam bago makuha ang plaka? Kaya tulad ng ipinangako ng ating Pangulo, heto ho, inayos namin, heto ho, may plaka na kayo," Tugade said.

The PHP978 million license-plate making contract has been awarded to Trojan Computer Forms Manufacturing Corporation and JH Tonnjes EAST GmbH Joint Venture. They are required to produce 775,000 pairs of motor vehicle plates and 1.7 million pieces of motorcycle plates registered starting July 1, 2016 and beyond.