Can LTO solve vehicle license plates backlog in 2-days time? Poe says ‘Yes’

Senator Grace Poe defends the proposed 2024 budget of Department of Transportation (DOTr) during the Senate plenary debates on Monday, November 13, 2023. (Photo courtesy of Senate PRIB)

MANILA, Philippines — Land Transportation Office (LTO) will be able to clear its outstanding backlog on motor vehicle license plates by the middle of November, Senator Grace Poe initially projected.

She gave the schedule during the Senate plenary debates as she sponsored the proposed P171 billion budget for Department of Transportation (DOTr) for 2024.

LTO is under DOTr.

“The good news is, by November 15, [2023], there [will be] no more backlogs for motor vehicles [license plates],” Poe told her fellow senators.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, however, was curious if the timetable may be moved sooner than later.

He wanted to find out if LTO can remove its 179,000 backlog for motor vehicle license plates within this week.

“Can it be cleared in two-days time?” Pimentel asked, speaking partly in Filipino.

Poe, responding to Pimentel’s challenge, said, ‘Yes.’

While there will be no more backlogs for motor vehicles, the backlog on motorcycle plates will remain high.

“[U]ntil 2025, there will still be motorcycle plates backlog to the tune of around 13 million,” said Poe.

Meanwhile, as of October 18, 2023, LTO’s backlog on driver’s license is at more than two million.

“The backlog is 2.4 million cards and is projected to increase [to] 3.9 million by December 2023,” said Poe.

Nevertheless, she said the agency is expecting over four million card supplies to arrive in 2024.

“Based on projections, LTO is expecting 4.6 million card supplies by next year,” she said.

“So, considering the projected annual requirement of 6.6 million cards, based on average license card issuance of about 550,000 cards per month, this results in a projected deficit of two million cards in 2024,” the lawmaker computed.

Poe also mentioned amendments were introduced in the proposed budget for LTO.

The changes were meant to augment the funding for the procurement of license cards, which will cost P297 million.

“[This will help] cover the projected deficiency and to assist expediting the production of the cards,” she explained.

The legislator recalled Senate also funded the replacement of 23 defective laser engraver machines of LTO, which amounted to at least P80.3 million.