Three-year vehicle registration proposed

Midy Cua —PHOTO FROM QUIRINO GOV. DAX CUA’S FACEBOOK PAGE

MANILA, Philippines — Quirino Rep. Midy Cua wants to make life a little easier for motorists all over the country by extending the validity of registration certificates to three years for all types of motor vehicles.

Cua filed House Bill (HB) No. 7404, or the proposed Three-Year Vehicle Registration Act, to amend Republic Act No. 4136, or the Land Transportation and Traffic Code, that prescribes a three-year validity period for newly bought vehicles, followed by annual renewals.

Cua proposes that renewals be limited to once every three years to make it more convenient for people who are paying the salaries of all government employees.

“While the whole process typically only takes a few hours, most vehicle owners must take a leave of absence from work to process their application,” said Cua.

Extension of validity

“By extending the validity of certificates of registration, motor vehicle owners can avoid missing work and preserve their leaves of absence for other matters,” she pointed out.

Cua added: “Business owners using motor vehicles will reduce the number of days when their motor vehicles are unavailable.”

HB 7404 seeks to insert the sentence, “Every certificate of registration shall be valid for three years, unless sooner revoked or suspended,” in Section 14 of RA 4136 pertaining to the issuance of registration certificates for motor vehicles.

It would further task the Department of Transportation to work with the Land Transportation Office in crafting implementing rules for the measure.

Motorists are required to renew the registration of their motor vehicles annually, with the schedule of the month based on the last digit of their license plate number and the week of that month, on the second to the last digit. Late registration incurs fines while anyone caught driving an unregistered vehicle would need to pay a P10,000 fine.