The Land Transportation Office (LTO) on Wednesday said it is accelerating the production of license plates in a bid to address the backlog for both motor vehicles and motorcycles.
LTO Chief Assistant Secretary Atty. Vigor D. Mendoza II said they have already ordered around 15.9 million metal plates and around one million have already been delivered to the agency for embossing.
The Department of Transportation earlier said that it will take over two years before the 13 million backlog on license plates will be addressed, which is mostly for motorcycles and for replacement of plates from the old green plates to the new white plates.
“We already have machines that will be used in the embossing of the license plates and we will start the full production this October (2023),” Mendoza said.
The machines, according to Mendoza, include two robotic ones and nine semi-manual ones that would be capable of producing around 42,000 license plates per day.
“It will take over two years to finish the entire 13 million backlog but while we are doing that, we will be able to cater to the current usage of plates by October this year. The goal is to release the license plate for all the newly-bought motorcycles so that they would not be included in the backlog,” said Mendoza.
“We are also dedicating some machines to cover the backlog,” he added.
Mendoza asked for patience from motor vehicle owners affected by the backlog as he committed that addressing the issue is the main priority of the LTO.
“We have caught up with that problem and we are assuring our countrymen that we will solve it as soon as possible. This is our main priority and we have been coordinating with Secretary Bautista on this matter,” Mendoza said.
Aside from the production of plates to address the backlog, Mendoza also committed to distribute all the unclaimed license plates before the end of the year.