Here’s some pretty good news to start the year. The LTO and DOTr have secured 4 million plastic cards used for printing Driver’s Licenses. So, what does this mean? It means that we might finally have ended the horrid run of paper-printed licenses and that we’ll all be getting brand-spanking new licenses as an actual card! Booyah!
LTO finally gets an answer for driver’s license plastic card shortage
Photo: Land Transportation Office
Christmas came a bit early for the Land Transportation Office as it finally found a way out of the persistent problem of plastic card shortages. We can remember that an injunction was issued by the Supreme Court in October of last year following a complaint from the losing bidder as a plastic card supplier for the Land Transportation Office. The said injunction halted the use of whatever cards the agency had in stock to print licenses. This consequently led to the (very quick) resurrection of paper-printed licenses.
However, delivery of 4,000,000 plastic cards was taken in just as the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) has elevated the injunction order issued by the Quezon City court in connection with the delivery of the remaining 3.3 million plastic cards that were procured early this year to the Court of Appeals.
Photo: Land Transportation Office
“The delivery of these four million plastic cards is enough to address both the backlog and the daily usage through application and renewal of driver’s license,” said Vigor Mendoza II, Chief of the Land Transportation Office.
“So we would like to announce to our clients, to the Filipino people na wala ng lisensyang papel! Balik-plastic na lisensya na tayo! [We are going back to plastic licenses!]. This is really good news for all of us. And we in the LTO are very happy that everything is coming together (na). We are back on the right track,” said Mendoza. ,” he declared.
Photo: Land Transportation Office
If the Court of Appeals rules in favor of the OSG’s petition, Mendoza said this would mean an additional 3.3 million plastic cards on top of the four million plastic cards that are expected to be beginning next month.
“Itong four million plastic cards na ito ay parang maagang pa-Pasko sa ating mga motorista na nagtiyaga sa lisensyang papel. Hopefully, Valentine’s Day gift na rin sa ating mga kababayang motorista yun namang 3.3 million na plastic cards na hindi natuloy yung delivery dahil sa injunction [These four million plastic cards are like an early Christmas gift to motorists who put up with paper licenses. Hopefully, the remaining 3.3 million plastic cards that weren’t delivered because of the injunction will be a Valentine’s Day gift to our fellow motorists],” Mendoza later added.
Aside from the plastic card shortage, Mendoza also assured the motoring public that 1,000,000 license plates are being produced every month and that the backlog for four-wheeled vehicle plates has all but been eliminated.
In closing, Mendoza was quoted as saying, “Kaya sa pagpunta ng ating mga kababayan para mag-apply at mag-renew ng kanilang driver’s license, hindi na sila mangangamba na baka ang ma-issue sa kanila ay papel na lisensya. Wala na po yan, lahat ay magkakaroon na ng plastic na driver’s license [So when you go to apply or renew your driver’s license, don’t worry that you’ll be issued a paper license. That is no more, everyone will now have a plastic driver’s license].”
So yes, there we go, everyone! Happy New Year, yes? Yes.
