LTO: 6-digit temp vehicle plates banned since 2017
TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, Nov. 1 (PIA) -- Still using the temporary the six-digit plate numbers in your private four-wheeled vehicle?
Then, be wary. The backlog of Land Transportation Office (LTO) in its license plates breed a host of issues, including the issuances of temporary plates.
It may be recalled that in January of 2017, LTO Assistant Secretary Edgar Galvante issued a memorandum standardizing temporary plates by using the MV file number for motorcycles and a combination of conduction sticker and MV file number for anything with more than two wheels.
This is even if the memorandum states that all vehicles released on or after Feb. 15, 2017 onwards would have a certain temporary plate format for “unity and ease of visual recognition.”
This memorandum puts the obligation to motor dealers of attaching to the vehicles the unified temporary plate format with complete information before delivery or release to the buyer.
The MV file number, however, appears only on the Certificate of Registration (CR), which is released only upon completion of the registration process.
Now, the LTO also pursues the strict implementation of the "No OR/CR, No Travel" rule.
According to the LTO website, the issuance of a Conduction Sticker to accredited assemblers and importers of whole MV is only for road testing and delivery and is, thus, only allowable for legal use of motor vehicles prior to its initial registration which is road testing and delivery.
The backlog in getting the permanent plate numbers also has the LTO issuing “Virtual Plates” which contain the car registration numbers issued for a new vehicle while the assigned plate number is not yet available.
Having a virtual plate helps in the release of your permanent plate number in the future, LTO said.
But these plates are now being cancelled since February 2017, said LTO Bohol Registrar Atty. Vicente Gador during the recent Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC) Meeting.
According to LTO, as early as 2017, in the memorandum issued by Galvante, the LTO has banned the use of the six-digit temporary plate number.
With this, sporting one in your vehicle could get you penalized.
During the recent meeting of the PPOC held at the new Capitol building, tourism transport sector representative Augusto Pascual elevated the concern to the council and asked LTO why it has “allowed” the use of the temporary plate when it issued and assigned these to vehicles, when in fact it is now banned.
Gador said the LTO has issued an advisory for information dissemination in 2017 asking owners of vehicles using the six-digit LTO-issued plates to have these cancelled at the district offices.
He said the same six-digit temporary plates have been issued to over 500 vehicles, and when that vehicle figures out in an accident, then the problem starts.
With over 500 units bearing the same six-digit plates, vehicles can be red-flagged, meaning they can be ascribed to accidents or traffic violations when, in fact, it was the plate of another vehicle that was tagged.
LTO explained that their registrars have been tasked to crash out these numbers for a new set of plates then.
A case of a tour driver in Bohol who was apprehended for using the six-digit plates is now made a sample case.
According to Pascual, who heads a tourist transport group, they had a driver who was apprehended for using the plate issued by the LTO.
Apparently, LTO Bohol had not cancelled the temporary plate for the permanent one.
On this, Gov. Arthur Yap emphasized that it is incumbent upon LTO to inform the public on this matter.
Along this line, PPOC has issued a resolution asking the LTO to inform the public again, and correct the situation.
PPOC's move is also consistent with Pres. Rodrigo Duterte's reform agenda of streamlining government systems to deliver services without delay. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)
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