LTO grants additional 1-year Driver’s License validity extension, confident that TRO will be lifted
The resolution to the TRO issued against the LTO 14‘s use of the plastic cards supplied by Banner Plasticard, Inc. is scheduled to expire today. While the Land Transportation Office is confident that it will be lifted and that no extension will be granted, it has also announced that it will be granting Driver’s License holders another validity extension in light of what’s happened, and to help until the supply and rollout of plastic license cards is accomplished.
Driver’s Licenses set to expire hereon given a 1-year validity extension by LTO
Photo: Department of Transportation
The first of many batches of plastic cards that will be used for printing Driver’s Licenses was received by the LTO towards the end of July this year. This was met with some resistance as well as a TRO requested by a losing bidder, implicating that their price was lower but still, the contract was awarded to the winning bidder.
The TRO effectively rendered the stock of plastic cards useless as their use was halted with its issuance. Motorists were expecting that the plastic card shortage could finally be addressed by the LTO given the fresh supply of cards but alas, this is not so. At least until later today when we can expect a full update from the Land Transportation Office on the possible lifting of the TRO.
Photo: Land Transportation Office
During yesterday’s House Committee on Appropriations briefing, LTO chief Vigor Mendoza II stated that he was confident that the TRO will, indeed, be lifted with no further complications that will impede the licenses’ printing; but alongside, he also floated the idea of extending the validity of Driver’s Licenses as they begin chopping away at the estimated 1.7M card backlog.
At first, stamping of the paper Official Receipts (OR) of motorists was also forwarded as another possible option to indicate that the license is still valid. Towards the end of the briefing, however, Mendoza answered in the affirmative that he does “agree with the Committee and some members to go ahead and allow one-year renewal of those driver’s licenses that cannot be renewed at this point because of the pending case”.
In the case of a misplaced paper OR, the LTO Electronic Driver’s License that can be accessed via the LTMS Portal can also be presented. Given the public “approval” of the extension, there should be no problems as far as validity is concerned.
Photo: Land Transportation Office
We’ll be keeping you all updated once more information comes in from the LTO today. It can be safely said that all of us are waiting for the “good word” and the Land Transportation Office’s plans to solve all the problems hounding the agency, and receiving our plastic cards (that most have already paid for) is a step forward for everyone concerned.
