LTO delivers .1 M plates

The Land Transportation Office ( LTO) delivered more than 100,000 license plates nationwide a few months after it was stopped by the Commission on Audit ( COA), an official said yesterday. LTO chief Roberto Cabrera told

The STAR they have distributed 149,858 car plates to 10 LTO regional offices.

He said that the LTO has distributed 47,944 plates in the National Capital Region; 15,299 plates in Ilocos region; 16,992 in Central Luzon; 199 in Bicol region; 30,438 in Central Visayas.

The LTO has also distributed 25,000 plates in Eastern Visayas; 2,997 in Zamboanga peninsula; 2,997 in Northern Mindanao; 6,993 in Soccsksargen; and 999 in Caraga region.

“These (car plates) were delivered to the regional offices as of Friday,” Cabrera said.

The COA ordered the LTO to stop the license plate deal with Filipino-Dutch consortium JKGPPI for violation of procedures prescribed under Republic Act 9184, or the Government Procurement Reform Act.

Department of Transportation and Communications Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya vowed to release the car plates before the term of President Aquino ends next month. The LTO is an attached agency of the DOTC.

The LTO plates were released despite the COA’s notice of disallowance after the Bureau of Customs (BOC) donated it to the agency.

The BOC declared the car plates of JKG-PPI abandoned after the firm failed to pay P40 million in duties and taxes.

Cabrera earlier said they are set to release more than 300,000 pairs of car plates in the next two to three weeks after the COA inspected the 11 shipping containers with more than 600,000 plates.

However, he emphasized that the COA’s notice of disallowance still affects the distribution of around 14.7 million plates.