Asec. Mendoza says LTO will finish all plate backlogs next June
The Land Transportation Office (LTO), has vowed to end the almost decade-long issue of motorcycle plate backlog by producing 1 million motorcycle plates a month and says that it will be resolved by June of next year.
According to LTO chief, Assistant Secretary, Atty. Vigor Mendoza II, the agency’s plate-making facility will be in full swing starting October 2024, producing a target of 1 million motorcycle plates a month so that by June 2025, the backlog issue will be finally resolved.
“Starting October [2024], we will be bringing out 1 million plates a month to cover the 9 million backlog. Para (so) exactly by June of next year, tapos na itong (we’re finished with the) 9-million backlog,” said Mendoza.
Mendoza also said that the LTO in 2023 started with a 12-million motorcycle plate backlog. This year so far, the agency has trimmed it down to 9 million plates.
“We're down to 9-million [backlog]. We started out last year with 12 million. Our plant is churning out approximately 1 million plates a month to satisfy the plate backlog. Well, while the production is important, so is the distribution. We don’t want our dealers to have a hard time distributing these motorcycle plates since they are also trying to catch up, not only with the current supply but also the past due plates that they are supposed to distribute to owners.”
2025 or 2026?
In 2022, the LTO said that 78% of the motorcycle plate backlog or roughly 9.4 million plates (at the time) was due to the redesign requirements of Republic Act 11235 or “Doble Plaka” law.
“As for motorcycles, LTO Chief [Jay Art] Tugade wishes to clarify that out of the 12 million backlogs for motorcycle license plates, 9.4 million of them will be replaced very soon with the new design, in compliance with Republic Act 11235 or the Motorcycle Crime Prevention Act.”
In September of 2023, during the budget hearing for the Transportation Department, Mendoza said that it would take over 2 years (2025 or 2026) for the license plate backlog to finish, most of which are for motorcycles.
“It will take over two years to finish the entire 13 million backlog but while we are doing that, we would be able to cater to the current usage of plates by October this year (2023). The goal is to release the license plate for all the newly bought motorcycles so that they would not be included in the backlog,” said Mendoza.
