MANILA, Philippines — The Land Transportation Office said Wednesday it expects to clear up to 90% of its backlog of motor vehicle license plates by the end of 2023.
The agency said it would use its own factory to produce a percentage of the license plates required.
“We have already extended the opening hours of the LTO license plate manufacturing plant. It now even works on Saturdays so that it can produce more replacement plans and reduce the backlog,” LTO chief Teofilo Guadiz III said in a statement.
The backlog of motor vehicle replacement plates, which are the license plates being transitioned to black, stands at 2.3 million, while the backlog of motorcycle license plates is 11.5 million. There is no reported backlog in terms of creating license plates for newly registered vehicles.
In addressing license plants for motorcycles, the LTO will prioritize rear plates.
“For the front, the orientation of the previous administration, which we are adapting now, is gagamit kami ng decal,” Guadiz said.
“We are anticipating the passage of the new law, so for now we will be content to process the rear plates first, and we will have to postpone the processing of the front plates.”
As of Monday, the LTO plate manufacturing facility has already produced 300,000 pairs of replacement plates.
The issue of the backlog has already been raised in House of Representatives deliberations, with lawmakers saying it would “affect the effective apprehension of traffic violators.”
But despite its funding needs, the Department of Budget and Management approved only 4.7 billion pesos out of the 6.83 billion pesos proposed by the LTO to solve the problem.
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