From left to right, LTO chief Asec. Vigor Mendoza II and LTO-7 director Glen Galario inspect the unclaimed license plates stored at the agency’s storage area in Talisay City, Cebu, on Tuesday, August 1, 2023.| Wenilyn Sabalo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The newly installed chief of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) is set to issue a memorandum setting a 60-day deadline for the vehicle owner to claim their new license plates.
LTO chief Asec. Vigor Mendoza II, however, may give an extension for Central Visayas, which has one of the most unclaimed license plates in the country.
The unclaimed license plates stored in LTO 7’s facility in Talisay City| Wenilyn Sabalo
As of Tuesday, August 1, 2023, Mendoza said LTO in Central Visayas (LTO-7) has a total of 670,000 unclaimed plates. Of the number, 530,000 are motorcycle plates, while 140,000 are unclaimed motor vehicle plates.
“Marami tayong kailangan gawin. We are putting a timeline to this and see where we can go. We are talking with some motor vehicle dealers para tulungan tayo kasi sila naman yung nag benta ng sasakyan eh so alam nila kung kanino dapat ibigay yung plaka. We will coordinate with them,” he said.
Mendoza may issue the memorandum on Tuesday next week, August 8.
READ MORE: New LTO chief Mendoza vows improved services in the agency
But the new LTO director acknowledged that there is an issue with the information being uploaded to the LTO web portal, which was meant to offer drivers access to information about the status of their license plates.
“First things first, eh kailangan nating ma-upload yung data para madadalian yung ating mga motorista, may-ari ng sasakyan, motorsiklo, na malaman kung handa na yung plaka nila at kung saan nila makukuha,” he told reporters.
Mendoza visited on Tuesday, August 1, LTO-7 impounding area and storage facility in Talisay City.
He also checked the condition of the unclaimed plates dated way back 2018 until 2023.
The chief admitted that the agency’s system needs fine-tuning as they delve on the root cause of slow distribution of readily available license plates.
“What happened so we can avoid the same mistake o kung ano yung kulang, maayos na natin moving forward…Initially, we’ll be giving, we’ll come out with an order, 60 days, pero sa nakita ko ngayon baka magahol sa Cebu, but let’s start with 60 days and kailangan may sense of urgency kasi eh. Kung sasabihin kung six months tagal naman nun,” he said.
“On the part of the government, we disseminate information. On the part of the vehicle owners naman, sana sila na magkusa. We will make it easier for them para ma validate nila kung handa na yung plaka nila,” he added.
/bmjo