MANILA, Philippines — Land Transportation Office (LTO) chief Jay Art Tugade yesterday extended the validity of expiring driver’s license cards amid the shortage in plastic cards.
“All holders of driver’s license cards expiring on April 24 onwards shall no longer be required to renew their licenses until Oct. 31, or as soon as the driver’s license cards become available for distribution to the public,” Tugade said in a memorandum dated April 21.
Tugade added that the supply of driver’s license cards in almost all of the regional, district, extension and renewal offices, including licensing offices, are depleted.
“All penalties for late renewal transactions shall be waived. All subject licenses with extended validity shall be recognized by LTO Law Enforcement Services and LTO-deputized agents in apprehension cases,” he added.
According to Tugade, all the remaining supply of the driver’s license cards will be reserved for overseas Filipino workers.
On Thursday, Tugade announced a shortage in the plastic driver’s license cards nationwide, adding that there are only 147,000 plastic cards remaining and these are expected to run out before the end of April.
Tugade said that as early as November 2022, after he assumed office, he discovered that the number of the plastic cards was at a critical level.
Tugade added that in January, the Department of Transportation issued a department order instructing all attached agencies that procurements of P50 million and above will be conducted by the DoTr central office.
The DOTr said it is just going by procurement rules.
According to Tugade, the LTO issues at least 30,000 plastic cards daily for the driver’s license.
Tugade said the LTO allocates a budget of at least P240 million for the plastic cards of 5.2 million driver’s license holders.
He said it will depend on the DOTr bidding process when the plastic cards will be available. He said the shortage will persist until the end of the year, depending on the bidding process.