LTO eyes clearing half of 11-M plate backlog in 6 months

The Land Transportation Office (LTO) is aiming to clear half of its 11 million plate backlogs in six months, Assistant Secretary Teofilo Guadiz III said Tuesday.

In a radio interview, Guadiz said the 11-million backlog include plates that should have been manufactured since 2016.

“Ang timeline ko rito mga six months baka matugunan na ang kalahati nitong mga plakang hindi pa nade-deliver sa mga bumibili ng sasakyan,” he said.

(My timeline here is around six months, maybe by that time we already delivered half of the plates that have yet to be delivered to vehicle owners.)

In line with this, Guadiz said the agency will double its manpower in plate-making plants for 24-hour operation and outsource another manufacturer.

The LTO earlier said it needs P6.8 billion to totally clear the backlog in license plate production.

The LTO is also considering making transactions involving vehicle registration and renewal of driver's license online to lessen physical interactions, according to Guadiz.

He said setting up online transactions would prevent corrupt practices such as those involving fixers.

"Siguro pag na-simplify natin ang proseso, iksian natin, kontian 'yung requirements, at i-allow na natin ang online transactions sa renewal po ng driver's license at sa renewal ng rehistro ng sasakyan ay malaki ang mababawas sa mga tao na pumupunta sa LTO," he said.

(Perhaps if we could simplify and shorten the process and allow online transactions in renewal of driver's license and registration of vehicles, there would be less people flocking to LTO.)

Guadiz said the LTO also wants to charge lesser fees for its services.

Meanwhile, Guadiz said the LTO will study opening drive-thru registration. He said pilot implementation would initially cover two to three district offices in Metro Manila and may start seven months from now.  —KBK, GMA News