LTO set to distribute new license plates

MANILA, Philippines - The Land Transportation Office (LTO) has received delivery of the initial batch of new generation license plates.

Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said the first shipments feature new alpha-numeric designs – three-letter and four-number combination for motor vehicles, and two-letter and five-number combination for motorcycles.

LTO spokesman Jason Salvador said 50,000 plates for motorcycles have been delivered.

“We’re now in the process of distributing these to our regional and district offices,” he said.

These will cover those registered from Sept. 1 last year up to present, he added.

Salvador said 9,000 pairs of plates for four-wheeled vehicles have also arrived.

These will cover vehicles registered from Feb. 17 this year up to present, he added.

Salvador said these form part of the first batch of license plates, and that the other plates will be arriving in tranches every week.

Private motor vehicle plates will sport a new black-and-white design, similar to those in use in most countries worldwide, while those of public utility vehicles will retain the black-and-yellow scheme.

Among the new security features are tamper-proof bolts permanently attaching the license plates to the vehicle; reflectorized sheeting to make them visible from afar and from any angle; and “third-plate” sticker to display license plate numbers on windshields that cannot be torn off without leaving a trace.

These security features aim to curb illegal operations like “tanggal plaka“ in which license plates are transferred from one vehicle to another to carry out crimes.

The new plates for public utility vehicles will indicate the region where the registration was made.

Plates for public buses will also bear the labels “city bus” or “provincial bus.” The “third plate” sticker will feature the vehicle’s routes.

Protocol license plates issued to lawmakers will indicate the house of Congress where they belong and the years of their terms.

The new license plates were patterned after those in Europe and Singapore.

Currently, motor vehicle plate numbers show three letters and three numbers, while  motorcycles have two letters and four numbers.

They have been in use since 1981.

Earlier, Abaya said the cost of the new license plates will not be more than the current rates of P450 for four-wheeled vehicles and P120 for motorcycles.

The release of the new plate numbers scheduled last September was delayed due to concerns about the release of funds by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for the five-year project.

A joint committee of the DOTC and LTO had awarded to the joint venture of the Netherlands’ J. Knieriem B.V. Goes (JKG) and Power Plates Development Concepts Inc. the five-year, P3.85-billon contract for the project.

Despite the delay, the DOTC said all motor vehicles and motorcycles are expected to shift to the new license plates by 2016.