Alvarez asks LTO chief to resign amid unresolved license plates shortage

Peeved at the lack of available license plates for registered vehicles, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez has asked the head of the Land Transportation (LTO) to quit his post.

“Resign now. Have a little shame. You can’t do your job,” he said in a message addressed to LTO Assistant Secretary Edgar Galvante at a House hearing.

Galvante was not present at the meeting of the House transportation committee on Wednesday, but Alvarez asked the LTO representatives to relay his message to their boss.

Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Alvarez said his beef with Galvante was nothing personal.

“I have nothing against Asec. Galvante. But you have been sitting in your post for more than a year, yet there are still no plates,” he told a press briefing.

“The most logical thing for you to do is to resign,” Alvarez said.

According to Alvarez, one of the things President Rodrigo Duterte had promised during the presidential campaign was the availability of license plates for registered vehicles.

“Why is it that when you buy a car, you would wait for a year yet there is still no plate?” he fumed.

“I don’t see any reason why there are no plates. That’s a very simple problem to fix,” Alvarez said, noting many suppliers could fill the gap.

He urged the Mr. Duterte to appoint a person “who can do the job.”

LTO reportedly held a rebidding for plate manufacturers with a nearly P1 billion funding in September.            /kga