LTO-7 to charge owners of unclaimed license plates

By: Mae Fhel Gom-os - 3 years ago

These are the unclaimed plates of motorcycles and four-wheeled vehicles that are stored at a space inside the SM Seaside City Cebu as of November 19, 2021. | via Mae Fhel Gom-os

CEBU CITY, Philippines – The top official of the Land Transportation Office in Central Visayas (LTO-7) has warned the owners of unclaimed license plates of motorcycles and motor vehicles for possible charges if they are caught not claiming or using their license plates.

LTO-7 Director Victor Caindec made the stern warning on Friday, November 19, 2021, at the Temporary Offsite Plate Distribution Office in SM Seaside City Cebu.

“We’ll make an announcement for those vehicles covered in the years nga naa na’y plaka unya madakpan sila in a checkpoint, we will charge them accordingly for not picking up their plates. Di mana mahimo ipa door to door ang plaka, wala ma’y budget ang gobyerno para magpa ship ana door to door,” he said.

Caindec said they resorted to this move due to the huge number of unclaimed private license plates from 2014 up to the present.

As of November 19, Caindec said there are still 81,910 unclaimed motor vehicle private plates and 195, 341 motorcycle private plates in the entire Central Visayas.

Caindec said they tried to execute a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with motorcycle dealers using the same clause with the four-wheel dealers, but the majority of them were reportedly supportive of the agency’s move.

“There are three conditions, number 1, that the dealers must take the responsibility to inform and distribute the plates to their clients. Number 2, silay mo undertake nga og naay mga sayop sa koan, ilang i-properly account sa LTO. Number 3 og naa gani pasangil diha nga naay nangayo og kwarta, LTO will be part of the investigation and we will jointly undertake disciplinary action. Pasabot naa’y moingon nga maningil og P3,000 para makuha ang plaka aw filean namog kaso. Di man sila mo undertake ana nga responsibility,” he added.

In response to this, Caindec said that starting Friday, walk-ins are allowed to claim their licensed plates at the Temporary Distribution Office for ten days.

Caindec said owners only need to present their documents or certificates of registration indicating that they are the owners of the motor vehicle or motorcycle.

“Unsaon mani namo pag release ang mga plaka nga dili namo ma release sa sayop nga tawo? So it has to be the right person. Gamay nalang tingali ang rason nga dili nimo makuha ang plaka sa sakto nga higayon sa sakto nga pamaagi,” he said.

“No, they can walk in for as long as they have the certificate of registration maski pa photocopy basta sila ang tag iya pwede ra,” said Caindec when asked if there is no need to go through the dealers.