ILOILO City – The Land Transportation Office (LTO) is calling motorists, car and motorcycle dealers in Western Visayas to claim the plate numbers of vehicles registered from 2018 to 2021 at their regional office in Jaro district.
Of the 483,235 motorcycle plate numbers downloaded by the LTO central office to the regional office, only 173,882 have so far been claimed or were issued, data from the LTO-6 showed.
As of July 21, 2023, 337,820 motorcycle plate numbers remained unclaimed.
LTO-6 spokesperson Riza Otayde said the plate numbers became available in the last quarter of 2021 to early 2022.
“Ang 2018 to 2021 plate numbers nag-alabot lang ini sang mga portion sang 2022 and last quarter sang 2021. So out of 483,235 plate numbers for motorcycles, naka-issue na kami sang 173,882. Ang nabilin is 337,820,” Otayde told Panay News yesterday.
Here is the breakdown of the 483,235 registered motorcycles in the region from 2018 to 2021:
* 2018 – 161,489
* 2019 – 160,997
* 2020 – 134,822
* 2021 – 25,927
Meanwhile, for UV Express, 4,421 plate numbers remained unclaimed from 2014 until this year in the region.
Otayde said the arrival of the plate numbers was delayed due to shortage and changes in specification, design and color.
From 2015 to 2016, the country had a problem with plate numbers due to the Commission on Audit’s disallowance in the LTO procurement.
With this, on Jan. 11, 2017, Transportation Secretary Jose Arthur D. Tugade issued a memorandum with the subject: “Reiteration of the memorandum dated January 11, 2017, or the Conduction Sticker Number or MV File Number as temporary license plates.” It was reiterated on March 22 this year.
“Since 2014 nga daw may ara problema sadto that is why nag-stop bangod sang temporary restraining order and then naapektohan ang pag-issue sang plate, and here comes nga may solution na sa problema, may ara naman naggwa nga bag-o nga laye regarding sa specs and changes sa plaka sa iya physical appearance, that is why may delay,” explained Otayde.
Distribution of plate numbers
According to Otayde, after the LTO central office delayed the issuance of plate numbers for motorcycles and UV Express registered from 2018 to 2021, some motorists bought new vehicles and applied again for new plate numbers, and didn’t bother claiming the plates of their previous vehicles.
“Ang iban junk na ang motorcycles, daw wala na plano nga kuhaon ang ila plaka,” she said.
But Otayde explained that motorists can still claim their plate numbers.
To hasten the release of plate numbers, the LTO-6 has segregated them by car or motorcycle dealer.
Of the 483,235 plate numbers for motorcycles, more than 31,000 were already segregated.
“Sa motorcycle dealers or puede sila ya makakadto sa amon para mapadali ang distribution sang sang ila plaka. They need to bring ang original sang OR/CR [Official Receipt/Certificate of Registration] para mapirmahan and ma-note nga na-claim na,” said Otayde.
Unavailable plate numbers
For those whose plate numbers are still unavailable, Otayde said motorists should follow the specifications indicated in Tugade’s memorandum.
“While the LTO is doing its best to address the backlog in the production and issuance of license plates, the undersigned hereby reiterates that the requirement of attaching conduction stickers (for motor vehicles) or MV file numbers (for motorcycles, used imported, rebuilt motor vehicles and trailers) as temporary license plates in accordance with the instructions and specifications… shall remain in full force and effect,” read part of Tugade’s memorandum.
“Sang indi pa available ang plaka sang 2017 nagpagwa memorandum kag gin-reiterate gid ini sang 2023 nga kon wala sang plaka, puede kita makagamit sang temporary plate, may ara kita authorized layout and format,” said Otayde.
For uniformity and ease of visual recognition, the following specifications shall be used:
Material: reflective, sturdy
For the UV Express plate layout, the text “REGISTERED” font theme should be “Arial Black” with a font size of 70 points. The “Conduction Sticker Number” font theme is also “Arial Black” with a font size of 36 points.
For the motorcycle plate layout, the text “REGISTERED” font theme should be “Arial Narrow Bold” with a font size of 55 points. The “MV File Number” font theme is also “Arial Narrow Bold” with a font size of 90 points.
The texts “REGION” and “DEALER” should have a font theme of “Arial Narrow Bold” with a font size of 50 points./PN
