Starting today, Aug. 29, Metro Manila motorists who apply for a new driver’s license or renew their old one will be issued plastic license cards with a five-year validity.
Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade is expected to lead the ceremonial release of the plastic cards at the Land Transportation Office (LTO) main office in Quezon City, almost a year after the validity of drivers’ licenses was extended.
According to the LTO, only plastic cards will be issued to drivers starting Tuesday, Aug. 29.
Earlier this month, President Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act No. 10930 which formally extended the validity of the licenses from three to five years.
From paper to plastic
The LTO has been releasing since October licenses with a five-year validity to drivers in Metro Manila through Administrative Order No. 2016-034. However, these were made out of paper.
Since 2013, the LTO has been dealing with a shortage of license cards after the Commission on Audit disallowed payments to the agency’s previous card supplier, Amalgamated Motors Philippines Inc., for lack of a proper contract.
In 2015, a new supplier, Allcard Plastic Philippines Inc., won a one-year contract for five million plastic licenses worth P336.8 million. Last December, the LTO entered into a P187-million direct contract with Allcard for three million cards with a three-year validity.
In April, the LTO awarded to the joint venture Dermalog, Nextix and CFP an P829-million contract for six million five-year valid plastic cards priced at P138.17 each.
LTO chief Edgar Galvante said that at present, they still have a backlog of 3.6 million plastic cards nationwide. Of the total, more than a million were in Metro Manila, he added.
While the LTO would start issuing the five-year plastic cards today, Galvante said that those with paper licenses issued between October 2016 to Aug. 25 must wait for the second week of September for their plastic cards to be released.
He explained that the delay was due to the “system adjustment” being undertaken by its former IT provider, and Dermalog, Nextix and CFP.