LTO-7 accepts walk-in claimants of vehicle plates

CEBU, Philippines —  Motorists who have not claimed their vehicle plates can now claim them at the Temporary Offsite Plate Distribution Office of the Land Transportation-7 located at the Seaview Wing SM Seaside City Cebu starting yesterday, November 19, 2021.

LTO-7 regional director Victor Emmanuel Caindec led the launching of the Plate Distribution Campaign that will last for 10 days wherein both motorcycle and four-wheel vehicle plates are ready for claim.

Caindec said that out of the 228,550 MV plates received in the region from 2015 to 2020, a total of 146,640 plates were already released.

The majority of the MV plates or 133,640 were released through the dealers while 13,000 were directly released to the owners.

For motorcycle plates in the region, a total of 201,863 plates were received from 2014 to 2021.

Caindec said only 6,522 MC plates were released or claimed and a total of 195,341 MC plates are left unclaimed.

The released number of MC plates was coursed through the dealers (3,405) and through owners (3,117).

Caindec said that most of the motorcycle dealers don’t want to enter into an agreement with the agency in releasing the plates that has the same clause as the ones entered by the motor vehicle dealers.

“The dealers must take the responsibility to inform and distribute the plate to their clients. Silay mo-undertake nga kon naay mga sayop sa pag distribute ilang i-properly account sa LTO aron ma-liquidate nila,” Caindec said in a statement.

The director added that the agency will help in the investigation should a dealer asks for an additional payment for the release of the MC plates.

“Niingon mi nga kung naay pasangil nga naay nangayog kwarta, LTO will be part of the investigation and we will jointly undertake disciplinary action,” the regional director added.

Caindec cited that among the reasons why an owner cannot claim their MC plates include having a different name under the certificate of registration (CR) as well as incomplete details under the deed of sale which is common to second-hand and repossessed motorcycle units.

Caindec said that their agency has been very active in telling the owners to claim their plates through the distribution office or authorized someone to claim for them.

“Maybe by December we will make an announcement for those vehicles in the years nga naa nay plaka unya og madakpan sila in a checkpoint we will charge them accordingly for not picking up their plates,” said Caindec.

The public can walk into the TOPD office or have their plates verified first before going to the distribution office via the LTO-7 hotline 0947-349-9965.

Details to send are the following: plate and/or MV file number, date of initial registration, the name of the registered owner and name of the dealer. — GMR (FREEMAN)