MANILA, Philippines — The Land Transportation Office (LTO) on Monday said that at least 5,000 copies of driver’s license cards will be released before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s State of the Nation address (Sona) on July 24.
According to LTO Officer-in-Charge Assistant Secretary Hector Villacorta, the first batch of license cards will be distributed to Overseas Filipino Workers and new driver’s license applicants.
“Just maybe 5,000 copies. The paper will surely be out [by the said] date because the production of license cards will start with 15,000 to 30,000 plastic cards a day within ten days, and the promise is within 60 days,” said Villacorta in a press briefing.
“They can make 1 million plastic cards, so the issue of lack of supply for plastic cards will be history,” he added.
He explained that its partner manufacturer, Banner Plasticard, Inc., can produce 15,000 to 30,000 cards daily within ten days as part of its commitment to deliver 1 million cards in the next 60 days.
“I’ve seen the factory here in Pasig, and they showed me that they can do 15,000 to 30,000 copies every day,” he said.
Meanwhile, Villacorta said that driver’s license holders may now access electronic copies of their licenses through the Land Transportation Management System or the LTMS Portal.
“Napa-aga ‘yung launch (the launch was conducted earlier) because the IRR [implementing rules and regulations] takes 15 days to take effect. But we just want to assure the public that things are getting back to normal and we have an additional form that is available, the virtual ID,” said Villacorta.
“Pwede rin ipakita ‘yung (They can show their) e-license, so we would have a memo to all enforcers that that should be accepted,” he added.
Villacorta explained that the virtual ID will benefit OFWs, who may present the digital copy as proof of identification.
It can be recalled that a shortage in plastic driver’s licenses affected a total of 5.2 million motorists, prompting the LTO to implement the use of temporary licenses then.
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