Motorcycle owner first to be issued new license plate in Region 10

A motorcycle owner will have bragging rights to being the first in Region 10 to have the new, simpler, but smarter license plates for land vehicles.

Land Transportation Office Puerto extension office OIC Engineer Jesus Chan said the motorcycle was the first vehicle processed by the LTO New Registration unit on Thursday.

In a phone interview, Chan said the New Registration unit for Region 10, which started such transactions for the new plates on Thursday, processed more than 100 vehicles from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Other than motorcycles, the LTO will also process for the new license plates other types of vehicles such as passenger cars, vans and trucks

"Ngayon lang kami naka-up," he said, adding the New Registration office also started using the agency code 10-01 Thursday.

When asked how many vehicles the unit processes, Chan said they can handle transactions for "200 to 250" vehicles a day in Region 10.

But he also clarified the motorcycle owner did not immediately get the license plates as they were not immediately available.

Chan said it is possible the new plates could arrive after 45 days, or mid-July.

Last May, the government started to roll out license plates that will not just be easier to read but also tougher to clone.

The new plates will have black-on-white lettering that can be read from a distance, and will no longer contain the slogans of administrations.

Also, the new license plates will have three control letters and four digits, compared to the previous generation of plates with three control letters and three digits.

On the other hand, an LTO stamp on the plate will make it harder to clone.

Another high-tech feature of the new plate is a bar code system that when scanned can indicate the vehicle's chassis and motor numbers, color and make. — Joel Locsin /LBG, GMA News