LTO Marks 106th Anniversary with Inauguration of Plate Making Plant

The Land Transportation Office (LTO) marked its 160th anniversary yesterday, April 24, 2018, by inaugurating its very own Plate Making Plant at the LTO Central Office in Quezon City.

Together with the Department of Transportation (DOTr) led by DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade, LTO Chief and Assistant Secretary Edgar Galvante inaugurated seven Manual Embossing Machines, which at full production, can reportedly produce up to 22,000 plates per day. With one Automated Embossing Machine arriving in July, the Plate Making Plant should be operational by August 2018.

"The LTO had a lot on its plate when we took over. There was a huge backlog in license cards, while the court stopped the distribution of plates. Isa-isa nating sinolusyunan ‘yan. Ngayon, may lisensya na at five years pa ang validity. Ngayon, hindi lang basta na-distribute ang mga plaka. Gagawa pa tayo ng sariling plaka (We solved all the problems one by one. Now, we have the driver's license that is valid for five years. And now, we won't just distribute the license plate. We'll make our own,)" Transportation Secretary Tugade said.

Earlier this month, Secretary Tugade, along with Assistant Secretary Galvante, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) Chairman Martin Delgra III and other road sector officials of the DOTr, inspected the plate making machines, which were delivered last February 26, 2018.

The plate-making machines were part of the contract of Trojan Computer Forms Manufacturing Corporation and JH. Tonnjes E.A.S.T. GmbH Joint Venture, who won the contract for the procurement of motor vehicle and motorcycle license plates to address the backlog from July 2016 onwards.