QC RTC slaps TRO vs license card production

A Quezon City trial court (QC RTC) ordered for the suspension of the delivery of plastic cards used in the production of the physical driver’s license.

In a recent press conference, Land Transportation Office (LTO) Assistant Secretary Vigor Mendoza shared that the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 215 issued the order based on the petition filed by AllCard Incorporated.

According to Mendoza, he sees the latest order as a temporary setback in addressing the backlog, saying the suspension is only for 20 days and is not yet a permanent injunction.

For its part, the agency said that it respects the court’s decision and assures its commitment — under the leadership of Department of Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista — in adhering to the legal process.

“Certainly, this is a major setback on our goal of addressing the backlog on the physical driver’s license which we target to complete by September this year. The backlog is around 1.7 million as of this month—and mounting everyday considering the number of applications we are receiving for new, and the renewal of driver’s license on a daily basis,” the LTO said in a statement.

Further, the LTO said that it is currently consulting and coordinating with the transportation department on how to dampen the impact of the court’s decision. “We hope that this issue would be addressed in the soonest possible time because it is the Filipino people who would certainly suffer from a prolonged legal battle,” the LTO added.

Last month, the LTO received the initial batch of the plastic cards delivered by Banner Plasticard Incorporated. For the first transaction, the winning bidder turned over 5,000 plastic cards to the agency for the processing of the Philippine driver’s licenses.

Earlier, Bautista gave the assurance that the supply for the driver’s license cards will normalize by September this year — with up to 130,000 unissued cards expected to be received by motorists.

He also said that those who have not received the plastic card type may see the copy of their driver’s licenses online via the Land Transportation Management System (LTMS) portal.

Photos from Ruben Manahan IV, Department of Transportation Facebook page

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