20 days transfer of ownership required in RA 12209
Relief swept through the motorcycle community yesterday when President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. approved RA 12209, which amends the long-opposed RA 11235. Officially signed on May 9, 2025, RA 12209 effectively transforms the stringent Doble Plaka law into a more lenient version, significantly lowering penalties and removing the mandate for front license plates on motorcycles.
However, this relief maybe short lived as Sec. 1 of RA 12209 retains the “5/20” on the sale of a motorcycle. Basically, Sec. 1 of RA 12209 amends Sec. 4 of RA 11235 “Registration by the Owner.” Under this amendment, the motorcycle dealer is now mandated to register the motorcycle with the Land Transportation Office (LTO) within 5 working days from the date of sale.
Here’s a critical detail that we missed since most of us only focused on the Doble Plaka part: “In the event of a subsequent sale or disposition, the owner who sold or disposed of a motorcycle shall report such sale or disposition, in person or online, to the LTO not later than 5 working days from the date of transaction.” Failure to do so will result in a PHP 5,000 penalty for the seller.
Another crucial point is that “the new owner shall cause the transfer of ownership of the motorcycle not later than 20 working days from the acquisition of ownership.” Once the requirements are met, the LTO must issue a new Certificate of Registration (CR) within 2 working days. The penalty for failing to begin this transfer within the 20 working days has been substantially reduced to PHP 5,000, down from the previous range of PHP 20,000 to PHP 50,000. This penalty is specific only to motorcycles.
This brings up numerous questions, particularly from those in the buy-and-sell sector. Also, the transfer of ownership process is still hampered by several outdated LTO procedures. For example, the new owner will be asked to physically bring the vehicle or motorcycle to the LTO District Office (DO) listed on its CR. That LTO DO will also typically require the vehicle to be presented to its “trusted” PNP-Highway Patrol Group (HPG) office, usually the nearest in their office, both times to secure the vehicle’s stencil. This process becomes even more complicated if the vehicle’s original records (mother file) are located in a distant province, such as Mindanao or the Visayas (if you’re from Luzon or vice versa). Personally, completing a transfer of ownership took me nearly four months, a story you can read here.
This amendment to RA 11235 is undoubtedly a positive development for the motorcycle community, offering better protection for both sellers and buyers, particularly concerning liabilities in case of accidents or crimes. The true success of this law, however, hinges on the LTO and PNP-HPG’s ability to streamline and simplify the ownership transfer process. Without such improvements, this legislation risks being reduced to a mere condition that allows fixers to thrive.
