MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: [Coverage cut] … on driver’s license cards and motor vehicle license plates beginning July 1. And to give us an update on this, we are joined by LTO Chief, Assistant Secretary, Atty. Vigor Mendoza.
LTO CHIEF ASEC. MENDOZA II: Magandang umaga po, Malacañang Press Corps. Marami pong salamat sa pagkakataon pong ito.
Kaninang umaga nga po, nag-meeting po kami – ako po, si DOTr Secretary Bautista at Undersecretary Andy Ortega – at in-update po natin ang ating Pangulo sa status ng ating license cards at ating mga motor vehicle license plates. Ipinakita natin sa ating Pangulo na as far as the supply is concerned ng driver’s license cards ay diri-diretso po tayo hanggang end of the year. We have sufficient driver’s license card to support the demand for until end of the year.
Humigit-kumulang mga 9.7 million cards – na-bid-out na po iyan ng ating DOTr at LTO – so there is no reason why we will not have enough cards for the entire year. Dahil nga dito, by July 1 of this year, dapat wala na pong backlog. And we can see that on track po tayo diyan. Iyong mga nag-expire po ng April 30, nagri-renew na po sila ng kanilang mga cards; pati iyong mga last year, tuluy-tuloy po ang kanilang pagri-renew ng cards.
Iyong May 1 to May 30 naman, iyong mga last quarter of last year, we encouraged them na pumunta na po sa inyong LTO at kunin na po ninyo, kung mayroon kayong paper license, puwede na po ninyong kunin iyong inyong plastic card. At iyong mga hindi pa nag-renew, you have until May 31 to renew your licenses. Pagdating po ng Hunyo, ito na po iyong last first quarter of this year at saka iyong mag-expire po ng Hunyo, we are giving you the opportunity na i-renew na po ang inyong mga lisensiya at sapat na po iyong ating mga license cards.
Ni-report din po natin sa Presidente, mayroon tayong mga engraver machines. Nagbi-breakdown na kasi mga six to seven years old na po iyong ating mga machines na iyan. Pero maganda po ang ating programa with DOTr, we are now bidding out engraver machines this year to cover up for those that will break down. Tapos mayroon pa tayong mga wider bidding out of more machines as we proceed until next year 2025. So, tuluy-tuloy po iyan from the supplier of the cards to engraver machines.
Soon we will also launch iyong ating courier service, parang passport. Kung ayaw mong kunin iyong card sa LTO, you can just—mayroon po tayong ilulunsad na parang SMS website na you can choose whatever courier you chose from that is accredited by the government para sa ganoon parang passport, you can just have your license card delivered to you kung ayaw ninyo nang kunin. Mas lalo na iyong may papel na, gusto natin convenient.
Iyan ang utos sa atin ng ating secretariat at ng Pangulo, a convenient means sa ating mga publiko para makuha nila iyong kanilang lisensiya. Saka mas mabuti pa nga kung huwag kayong pumunta sa amin eh, baka iba pa ang kumita ‘no.
So, sa mga plaka naman, we updated the President as far as supply is concerned, we have more than enough. In terms of motor vehicle, ang ating inaayos lang po, and the President was very clear on this, we have to be very strict with our dealers. Nakikita po natin na some of our plates, naiimbak lang po sa mga dealer; hindi po naipamimigay sa mga motorista. So, we agreed, we met with dealers and we agreed that from the time magbayad po ang isang tao, bumili ng sasakyan, within 11 days ay dapat iyong plaka, iyong OR/CR at iyong RFID sticker ay mapasakaniya na. So, there’s no reason why this will not happen.
And to this effect, today we issued around over a hundred show cause orders to dealers to explain, bakit hindi nila nabigay iyong mga plaka sa ating mga motorista. And we will continue to discipline our ranks, kasama rin iyong mga LTO na who will not comply with the five-day requirement. Ang amin namang commitment sa ating mga dealer, pag-submit ninyo sa amin ng mga dokumento ninyo, within five days, kailangan ilabas po namin iyong plaka, OR/CR at RFID.
So, iyon po ang aming inaayos so that by July 1, lahat po ng mga motor vehicles po natin na bumili ng kanilang mga sasakyan ay dapat nasa kanila na iyong mga plaka po nila especially those who bought their vehicles in 2022, 2023 and 2024. There is no reason na hindi dapat nila makuha iyong plaka po nila.
So by end of this year, pati po iyong mga replacement plates, iyong mga dating kulay green na plaka na pinapalitan ng black and white plates, kailangang mapalitan na rin po namin iyan by the end of this year. That is around 1.5 million plates. Kayang-kaya po ng ating planta na i-cover iyan. So by the end of 2024, wala na po tayong backlog as far as current usage is concerned and as far as replacement plates are concerned for motor vehicles.
Ang magkakaproblema lang po tayo si motorsiklo. Kasi ang motorcycle, ang kahirapan po diyan, when PBBM administration came in, may backlog na po iyan ng mga humigit-kumulang 11 million – carry over po ito for the last 2014 onwards.
So, we are now catching up; tuloy ang catch–up on this. But we have a program of how to move this forward. By the end of 2024, we would have addressed more or less 50% of the backlog. By June 2025, we would have finished the backlog as far as motorcycles are concerned. Ang kagandahan dito, side by side in addressing the backlog, we are addressing the current demand para sa ganoon, iyong mga bumibili po ng mga motorsiklo, ng sasakyan today, iyong 11-day period po natin, kailangang masunod po iyon. There is no reason why they will not be able to get their plates on time.
To this effect, we launched a hotline number na puwede pong magsumbong sa atin iyong ating mga motorista kung pagbilang nila ay lumalampas nang 11 days ay wala pa silang plaka, OR/CR, they can Viber us; they can text us para maimbestigahan namin ito kaagad, iyong dealer o tao namin na hindi naglabas ng plaka on time. And we encourage the public to really report to us para masaayos po nating mabuti itong ating sistema ng paglalabas po ng plaka.
Iyon lang po naman. Marami pong salamat.
RACQUEL BAYAN/RADYO PILIPINAS: Sir, good afternoon po. Doon po sa target natin na July 1 na wala na tayong backlog, sa ngayon po ilan na lang po iyong hinahabol natin?
LTO CHIEF ASEC. MENDOZA II: Sa motor vehicle, wala na po tayong backlog eh, na-address na po natin iyong backlog for current demand. But what we are seeing here is a distribution problem kaya we are doing some, kaunting palugit sa ating mga dealer na i-adjust na po nila iyong mga sistema nila dahil malinaw ang instruction ng President na we have to discipline our ranks – that includes the dealers, that includes also LTO personnel who are not also doing their work as far as bringing out the plates on time. So, dapat lahat kami by July 1 ay on time na tayo sa paglabas po ng plaka, OR/CR at RFID sticker within 11 days from the time magbayad po ang ating motorista.
RACQUEL BAYAN/RADYO PILIPINAS: And then, sir, iyong 9.7 million na prinokyur (procure) po natin na cards, lahat po ba iyon nandito na sa bansa?
LTO CHIEF ASST. SEC. MENDOZA II: Wala pa ho lahat ‘no. The final delivery will be by October of this year, in time for the last quarter push. Pero tamang tama iyan, iyong ating delivery model for April-May, dire-diretso po iyan, wala hong palugit. And we have timed it just in time ‘no para iyong demand model naman ho natin, eksakto lang po iyan, iyong supply and demand ho natin.
OSEÑA-PAEZ: Eden Santos, Net25.
EDEN SANTOS/ NET25: Sir, mayroon po bang punishment doon sa mga dealers or LTO employees na hindi po magagawa iyong kanilang trabaho or mairi-release agad iyong plaka within 11 days po na binigay ninyo?
LTO CHIEF ASST. SEC. MENDOZA II: Opo. Puwede ho nating ipasarado iyong dealer na iyon, regardless of who dealer that is kung talagang ayaw niyang sumunod at patuloy ang violation on the timeline sa pag-deliver ng plates ay ipapasarado na po natin iyan.
Doon sa mga tao naman sa LTO, the same thing, iti-terminate ho natin iyan. That’s why sa meeting namin ng mga regional directors kahapon ay talagang ipinagdiinan ho natin iyong timeline ‘no: We have to bring out the plates like the OR/CR and RFIDs stickers within five days from the time mag-file naman ng mga papeles po sa LTO for registration.
OSEÑA-PAEZ: Chona Yu, People’s Journal.
CHONA YU/ PEOPLE’S JOURNAL: Sir, sabi ninyo po by July 1, lahat ng mga sasakyan ay may plaka na. Ang LTO po ba ay magpapatupad ng “No Plate, No Travel”? Huhulihin po ba iyong mga wala pang plaka?
LTO CHIEF ASST. SEC. MENDOZA II: Good question. Pag-isipan natin; ikaklaro ko muna sa boss ko. Look, the truth of the matter is iyong motorsiklo, alam ninyo may backlog pa iyan eh, carry over for next year. Ang sinasabi ko hong no backlog, ito iyong current usage. Pero, iyong replacement plate, may plaka naman na ho sila, iyong kulay green, so there’s no reason for them not to have plate ‘no. Ang tatanggalin lang natin ay itong mga temporary plates or provisional plates ‘no.
In fact, our law enforcers have been going around town not only in Metro Manila, kinukuha namin iyong mga sales invoice ng mga sasakyan na wala pang plaka, doon namin kinukuha kung bakit wala pa silang plaka. And then isho-show cause order po namin iyong mga dealer. Iyan, by July 1, there should be no temporary plates anymore. But July 1, kailangan lahat ng four-wheeled motor vehicles and above should have their plates already.
CHONA YU/PEOPLE’S JOURNAL: Sir, just a follow-up on Eden’s question kanina. Doon sa mga dealers na hindi nakakapag-comply na magbigay ng mga plaka, may mga nasampulan na po ba kayo, may mga naipasara na? And also doon sa 100 na pinaldahan ng show cause order, ano iyong update doon?
LTO CHIEF ASST. SEC. MENDOZA II: Today lang natin ito pinadala ‘no. What we did is proactive approach. Hindi natin hinihintay na mag-complain ang tao sa atin. We asked our law enforcers to …iyong mga walang plaka, pinara nila, kinunan ng picture iyong sales invoice at iyon ang pinadalhan natin ng show cause order today.
So, siguro by next week po iyan, give them time to answer, then will see what happens. Thank you.
OSEÑA-PAEZ: Alexis Romero, Philippine Star
ALEXIS ROMERO/ PHILIPPINE STAR: Asec, can you just explain, what was the problem doon sa motorcycle, bakit umabot ng 11 million iyong backlog?
LTO CHIEF ASST. SEC. MENDOZA II: Nakita po natin kasi, one, is a budgetary problem ‘no. Kung ang hinihingi ng gobyerno at that time is let’s say one billion, ang nabibigay lang ng per pondo is around 400 million. So there’s a gap and that has happened through the years.
It’s only under this administration na biglang tumalon iyong pagbibigay budgetary ng kongreso from an average of 14% for the past years, biglang tumalon ng mga 77% from what we requested and that is more than enough to cover this problem right now. It’s more of a budgetary problem that we solved.
ALEXIS ROMERO/ PHILIPPINE STAR: So, by 2025, we will get rid of that backlog?
LTO CHIEF ASST. SEC. MENDOZA II: Opo, tapos na ho tayo pati motorsiklo.
OSEÑA-PAEZ: Okay, no more questions?
LTO CHIEF ASST. SEC. MENDOZA II: Puwede ko lang hong ibigay ang aming hotline number ‘no, para naman mayroon ho tayong—it’s 0929-292-0865, text at message lang po; no need to call.
They can send picture ‘no. Itong hotline number ho natin ito, hindi lang po reklamo para sa plaka at lisensiya, iyong mga problema ho sa daan, kung mayroon ho silang nakitang gumagamit ng wang-wang eh pinagbabawal ho ng ating Presidente po iyan, piktyuran (picture) lang ho nila o i-video nila, ipadala ho sa atin. Iyong mga road rage incident or mga accidents that they saw sa daan, piktyuran ho nila tapos aaksiyunan ho natin kaagad. So, ito ho ang ilalabas natin, 24/7 po ito mayroon hong tao ho tayo who runs that hotline number for 24/7.
OSEÑA-PAEZ: Okay, last, Melvin Gascon.
MELVIN GASCON: Good morning po, sir. Just to get an update po sana, ano na po ba ang malinaw na government policy sa registration ng e-bikes and e-trikes?
LTO CHIEF ASST. SEC. MENDOZA II: As a general po, kapag hindi ninyo ginamit sa pampublikong kalye ang e-bikes and e-trikes, hindi ho kailangan i-rehistro po sa LTO. Pero the moment na gamitin po nila, gusto nilang gamitin sa mga public roads po natin, Marcos Highway, kahit saan, kahit saan sa public po iyan, kailangan po nilang i-rehistro
MELVIN GASCON: And the driver should also be..?
LTO CHIEF ASST. SEC. MENDOZA II: And the drivers must secure a license.
MELVIN GASCON: Must possess a license?
LTO CHIEF ASST. SEC. MENDOZA II: Opo.
OSEÑA-PAEZ: Thank you very much. On that note, we will end this press briefing. Thank you, LTO Chief Assistant Secretary Vigor Mendoza and thank you also for the presence of our secretaries — of PCO, Secretary Garafil and Secretary of Transportation Jimmy Baustista.
Maraming salamat, Malacañang Press Corp. Have a good afternoon.
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