LTO gets PHP 377.3M additional funding for cards, plate production

Back in October of last year, the Land Transportation Office (LTO), announced that at least 90% of all backlogged plates will be delivered by the end of 2023. Then, in September of this year, LTO Chief Atty. Vigor Mendoza II said that the agency estimates that it would take another 2 years to resolve all the plates in backlog, most of which are for motorcycles.

Responding to Senator JV Ejercito, Mendoza said that the agency looks to resolve the entire 13 million backlog on license plates and that they have the machines to deliver them to motorists.

“It will take over two years to finish the entire 13 million backlog but while we are doing that, we would be able to cater to the current usage of plates by October this year. The goal is to release the license plate for all the newly bought motorcycles so that they would not be included in the backlog,” said Mendoza in an earlier statement during a budget hearing for the Department of Transportation (DOTr).

For now, the LTO maintains that this backlog in number plates may in fact persist for the next 2 years.

Just recently, the LTO assured the Senate that the 990,000 backlog in motor vehicle plates will be cleared by November 15, 2023, while the 13 million backlog in motorcycle plates may last until 2025.

Additionally, there's a backlog of 2.4 million driver's license cards for 2023, projected to rise to 3.9 million by December 2023. Despite expecting a 5 million card supply in 2024, there’s still a projected supply shortage of 2 million cards for next year.

To address this, an extra PHP 297 million was allocated to the LTO’s budget for license card purchases, along with PHP 80.3 million for replacing 23 defective machines. Senator Grace Poe is optimistic that the LTO will catch up on its backlog by 2025.