Remove deadline for temporary, improvised plates use, LTO told
THE LAND Transportation Office (LTO) must remove the deadline for the temporary and improvised license plates use until the agency closes its production backlogs, transportation analysts said.
“The government should allow temporary plates, subject to official design, of course, if the agency itself cannot provide the plates,” Nigel Paul C. Villarete, senior adviser on public-private partnership (PPP) at the technical advisory group Libra Konsult, Inc, said in a Viber message to BusinessWorld.
This comes after the LTO ordered on Sunday the extension of temporary and improvised license plates use until Dec. 31 instead of the earlier deadline of Sept. 1.
“[The LTO] should not impose deadlines until such time the agencies can provide the plates. Deadlines may be set after the government is able to provide the plates,” Mr. Villarete said
Senator Francis N. Tolentino said the agency must use the extension to ramp up the production of official license plates.
“They promised to make significant progress. We’ll see what happens on December 31, whether the deadline will be extended further, or if plates will finally be issued,” Mr. Tolentino said in a statement, noting the deadline, which falls on New Year’s Eve, is an “imaginary target.”
“LTO was unable to produce MV (motor vehicles) plates adequately. A very simple process that it had no trouble doing before. Deadline of Dec. 31 should be removed permanently,” Rene S. Santiago, former president of the Transportation Science Society of the Philippines, said in a Viber message.
Car and motorcycle dealers should be allowed to make and issue license plates in accordance with the prescribed standards of LTO, he said.
“In short, sporting the number authorized by LTO once a vehicle is sold and registered. This will be cheaper, and convenient, for vehicle owners,” Mr. Santiago said.
“The LTO has made the right decision to reconsider the apprehension of vehicles using temporary plates, as the backlog of official plates has been the fault of the government,” InfraWatch PH Convenor Terry Ridon said in a message.
Mr. Ridon said the LTO should commit to ensure the timely printing of license plates before apprehending motorists for the use of temporary plates.
However, the agency reiterated that it has already addressed its license plate production backlog for four-wheel vehicles, and is working to ramp up the production of license plates for motorcycles.
“Thousands of license plates remain unclaimed in various motor vehicle dealerships and in a meeting with car dealers last month, the car dealers said their clients are unable to claim the plates despite their repeated message to them,” it said.
Earlier this year, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. ordered the LTO to address the backlog of vehicle plates by June next year. — Ashley Erika O. Jose