DURING his visit to Cebu on Tuesday, March 6, 2024, Land Transportation Office (LTO) Chief Assistant Secretary Atty. Vigor D. Mendoza II met with various stakeholders to address issues and concerns with the agency.
Mendoza together with LTO Central Visayas (LTO 7) director Glen G. Galario met with various LTO accredited stakeholders to discuss the continued efforts of the agency in improving its services and providing the best support the office could offer.
"Yung [Our] steps moving forward so we can address yung pagbibigay ng plaka ng mas mabilis [the releasing the plates quickly], yung lisensya [the licenses], yung timeline natin dito [our timeline here], so we can plan already. So when the supplies come in ay handa naman tayo [we are already prepared]," Mendoza said in a statement.
During his meeting with the LTO-accredited dealerships, Mendoza revealed that he wants to impose a timeline for dealers to release the motor vehicle and motorcycle plates to the owners once those plates are already turned over to the dealers.
"That's precisely why I want to talk to the dealers. I spoke to the dealers of Manila that's why I'm also here to give these dealers a timeline within which to distribute the plates," he said.
The LTO chief will impose a 72-hour or a three-working day deadline for every dealership to release the plates to their owners.
"Kasi ang plaka nandyan na eh [The plates are available]. But either they will help us or they will not help us. If they will not help us, I want a direct answer. But I want those plates distributed within 72 hours or three working days from the time it's given to them [dealers]," Mendoza added.
This mandate is to support the current campaign of LTO 7 of releasing unclaimed license plates to owners.
Galario revealed that over the last six months, over 100,000 license plates were released from its storage facility in Talisay City, Cebu.
"We welcome this move from our LTO Chief as we continue to push for the release of these unclaimed license plates," said Galario in a statement.
Aside from the deadline given to the dealers, LTO offices are also mandated to release available license plates by the same deadline.
"Even for ourselves, the moment the dealer pays the fee for the plates, LTO must be able to bring out the plates within three working days."
Mendoza also introduced the voluntary "passport-style" of releasing these unclaimed plates in the future.
"We want it to be easy for them and so we would like to adopt the passport-style [process] wherein if they agree we can just send the plates to them in their given addresses. Para kang [It's like] when they order online, they will have to shoulder the cost of the delivery. So, they pay directly to the courier," Mendoza added.
He is also optimistic that issues with driver's license cards will slowly be addressed within this month.
"We are targeting this March as the turnaround point from zero licenses, hopefully, yung problema natin sa korte, were targeting maayos na yun [we are targeting that our problem in court will be fixed,]" said Mendoza.
In October 2023, the Quezon Regional Trial Court issued a preliminary injunction against the government's procurement of plastic license cards which resulted in a temporary halt of the agency's procurement.
Mendoza revealed that around 3.3 million is the current backlog of the LTO offices for driver's license cards nationwide.
Mendoza also administered the oath-taking of the newly hired and newly promoted LTO 7 employees during his visit. (PR)