LTO/DOTr to PBBM: DL backlog solved by July

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Land Transportation Office (LTO) has recently briefed President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr., about the status of driver’s license cards and license plates.

During the said meeting with the Chief Executive, LTO Assistant Secretary Atty. Vigor Mendoza II assured the President of the continuous supply of the plastic cards being used in the printing of driver’s licenses and was informed that the goal of addressing the backlog on plastic-printed driver’s licenses in July this year is on the right track.

“We showed the President that as far as the [plastic card] supply is concerned, we have continuous supply until the end of the year [2024]. We have sufficient driver’s license card(s) to support the demand until the end of the year,” said Mendoza.

Back in March, the LTO issued the schedule of renewal and claiming of physical driver’s licenses following the Court of Appeals lifting of an injunction order by a Quezon City Regional Trial Court.

The LTO also asked its clients to strictly follow the schedule of renewal that was released, and so far, around 2.2 million plastic cards have already been delivered to LTO.

The 2.2 million delivered plastic cards were part of the 5.2 million cards that were procured by the DOTr in 2023. Around 2 million plastic cards were already delivered before the injunction order was issued.

The LTO added that it is expecting around 1 million plastic cards from its supplier.

Plates backlog

Aside from the plastic cards issue, the LTO and the DOTr also briefed the President on the status of the measures to address the backlog on license plates.

“Regarding license plates, we updated the President as far as supply is concerned, we have more than enough. We also reported to the President that the DOTr has already initiated the bidding of the engraver machines to avoid breakdowns and continue the production of license plates,” said Mendoza.

The President has instructed both the DOTr and LTO to sustain the programs and projects that would make it fast and convenient for the Filipino people to make their transactions with the agency under the “Bagong Pilipinas” campaign.