SOME 60 percent of the total number of vehicles nationwide are not registered with the Land Transportation Office, its top official said Monday.
LTO chief Vigor Mendoza II said out of the 38 million vehicles, only 14 million have been registered.
He said the COVID-19 pandemic has something to do with the non-registration of many vehicles because of the restricted movement of people.
“Others have not registered their units for so long. I wouldn’t be surprised if some units, particularly motorcycles, have been scrapped and are no longer in running condition. So we will take that out of our numbers. We will clean our data. For now, we will go after them,” he cited.
The government is losing P37 to P38 billion this year if the same number of vehicles remain not registered, he said.
“The target of LTO this year is P31 billion. So if we are successful, theoretically if we are successful to do this, it is another P37 billion,” he added.
According to Mendoza, they have to strictly implement checkpoints.
The LTO will be more strict in 2024 not only on motorbikes but also on four-wheeled vehicles.
“The checkpoints will get stricter. You know, I want to focus on cars because I have no doubt that there are motorcycles that are no longer running for the longest time. Yes, there are many motorcycles but I have asked our regional directors to focus also on four-wheeled vehicles,” the LTO chief said.
The agency is planning to bring vehicle registration sites down to the barangay or at transport hubs, and studying to waive or partially lower the penalties to encourage registration of vehicles.
He said they would adopt a simpler way of vehicle registration through an online application.
Since the LTO compound on East Avenue, Quezon City is already overcrowded with impounded vehicles, he said they would encourage voluntary compliance rather than impound unregistered units.