The Land Transportation Office (LTO) will no longer be issuing paper-printed driver’s licenses, LTO chief Vigor Mendoza on Saturday said.
Mendoza also said he is vouching for the “integrity” of around four million plastic cards.
“We would like to announce to our clients, to the Filipino people na wala ng lisensyang papel! Balik-plastic na lisensya na tayo!” said Mendoza.
He said the plastic cards secured for delivery are “more than enough to wipe out the backlog on driver’s licenses as well as the current daily usage through new application and renewal.”
“The delivery of these four million plastic cards is enough to address both the backlog and the daily usage through application and renewal of driver’s license,” Mendoza said.
The LTO has been issuing paper licenses since April due to a shortage of supply of plastic cards.
The LTO meanwhile said it is easing its “no registration, no travel” apprehension policy for the rest of December “in the spirit of the Yuletide season.”
In a statement on Thursday, Mendoza said the relaxation policy has already been approved by
Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista.
“It is the season of celebration and we at LTO do not wish to give more stress to the public,” Mendoza said.
The order, he said, has already been relayed to all LTO regional directors and heads of units, including the LTO’s Law Enforcement Service – the office in charge of the operation against delinquent motor vehicles.
Traffic enforcers, he said, were advised to just warn drivers of delinquent vehicles.
However, Mendoza said intensified operations against delinquent unregistered vehicles will resume in January.
“This relaxed policy for delinquent motor vehicles won’t last forever. After the New Year celebrations, we will resume our strict implementation,” he said.
Earlier, the LTO launched its intensified campaign against delinquent vehicles – which was estimated at 24.7 million unregistered motor vehicles nationwide according to data from the LTO.
The figure – made up mostly of motorcycles – represents around 65 percent of all motor vehicles in the country.
Aside from aggressive apprehensions, the LTO has also set up priority lanes for owners of vehicles that have been unregistered for at least one year to encourage registrations.