DoTr, LTO working on license plate backlog

CLARK FREEPORT --- The Department of Transportation, through its Land Transportation Office LTO, is working to resolve the issue on license plates back l og. The agency issued the statement following the 2020 Report of the Commission on Audit (COA) particularly on the delivery of motor vehicle license plates. In 2015, the DOTR stated that LTO’s payment to the previous contractor was disallowed by COA. With this, the payment to the supplier was suspended, which led to the stoppage of the production and delivery of the license plates from the LTO. Because of the disallowance, the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the distribution of the produced plates, according to the agency. When the Duterte administration took over in 2016, the transportation department stressed that the government was confronted with the production and distribution backlog of millions of license plates. The DOTr, under the directive of Secretary Arthur P. Tugade, granted the request of the LTO to acquire funds for a new contract to produce license plates in 2018. In the same year, the LTO Plate-Making Facility was established which expedites the production of license plates. Despite challenges, the DOTr said the agency and LTO continue to prevent a recurrence of backlog in the issuance of MV license plates and MC plates. "We commit to our stakeholders that we are doing everything to resolve the backlog by producing and distributing the remaining plates to their owners," the DOTr said.