An LTO employee shows some driver’s licenses that have yet to be distributed. (File photo by NIÑO JESUS ORBETA / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
MANILA, Philippines — Paper-printed driver’s licenses will no longer be issued to motorists next year as the Land Transportation Office (LTO) was able to finally secure around 4 million plastic cards.
“The delivery of these 4 million plastic cards is enough to address both the backlog and the daily usage through application and renewal of driver’s licenses,” LTO chief Vigor Mendoza II said in a statement on Saturday.
“So we would like to announce to our clients, to the Filipino people, that there will no longer be paper licenses; our driver’s licenses are back to being plastic,” he added.
According to the LTO, the 4 million plastic cards were procured through advance bidding by the agency. No documents were available indicating the cost, nor the firm that the LTO contracted.
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The 4 million plastic cards would be enough to supply for nine months, with the LTO issuing an average of 6.5 million driver’s license cards per year.
The development came as the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) filed a petition before the Court of Appeals (CA) questioning the injunction order issued by a Quezon City court, in connection with the delivery of the remaining 3.3 million plastic cards that were procured early this year.
If the CA rules in favor of the OSG petition, Mendoza said this would mean an additional 3.3 million plastic cards, on top of the 4 million plastic cards expected to be delivered starting next month.
“This is really good news for all of us. And we in the LTO are very happy that everything is coming together, that we are back on the right track,” Mendoza said.