LTO Chief Denies Being Late in Issuing Car Plates

Yesterday, in a phone patch interview for the morning show Unang Hirit, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) chief and Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) Assistant Secretary Alfonso “Aljun” Tan claimed that the agency was never delayed in issuing car plates for newly-registered vehicles.


[Image Credit]

During the interview, Tan said that the LTO has been able to issue Official Receipt (OR), Certification of Registration (CR), as well as the car plates within seven days, provided that the necessary documents have already been forwarded to the agency.

He added that car dealers should already have the Certificate of Stock Report (CSR) on hand by the time the importer and manufacturer ships the vehicles.

“Yung Certificate of Stock Report ay issued din ho ng LTO sa mga manufacturers at importers. Kasi kung titignan niyo po ang batas, dapat by the time na mapadala ng manufacturer o importer ang sasakyan sa isang dealer, dapat may kasama narin na CSR. Ang nangyayari, nauuna ang sasakyan, nahuhuli ang dokumento,” Tan said.

With that being said, Tan believes that there’s really no excuse for car owners to travel without registration and car plate, and that both the DOTC and LTO were implementing the law when they re-imposed the “No-Plate, No-Travel” policy at the beginning of this month.

Under the new LTO rule, car owners who are unable to provide the necessary registration documents will be fined with Php10,000 and an additional Php1,000 for those who will be caught driving an unregistered vehicle.

On the other hand, car owners who are able to show the OR and CR but are travelling without a license plate will still be fined with Php5,000 for the said offense.

The “No Plate, No Travel” policy was slammed by the motoring community and several organizations, including the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) which earlier stated, through Chairman Francis Tolentino, that the policy is “unconstitutional” and that the agency will not cooperate with the LTO in enforcing it.

While not going as far as calling the policy unconstitutional, representatives from various organizations such as Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI), the Automobile Association Philippines (AAP), as well as Richie Javier, the general manager of Ford Global City and Ford Manila have expressed their respective dismay over the policy.

Both Javier and CAMPI’s President Rommel Gutierrez are not at all on board with the LTO Chief’s claim that the agency was never late in giving out license plates. In their respective statements, they told the GMA New Online folks that dealers and new car owners should not be penalized for LTO’s shortcoming.

Javier said that “they (LTO) couldn’t process any registrations because the system was not up, and naturally, it will create a backlog,” pertaining to the system upgrade that agency has done from January of this year until the midway point of February. The LTO also did not process any registration on the latter part of December to give way for the Christmas break which, according to Javier, all of the backlog started.

Sources: 1 & 2

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LTO Still Battling License Card Shortage

Are you planning to renew your Driver’s License anytime soon? If so, then don’t be surprised if a Land Transportation Office personnel only issues you a paper (official receipt) that will serve as your temporary license while the government agency is still experiencing shortage of License Card.

LTO spokesperson Jason Salvador explained that the shortage is primarily due to the recent order from the Commission on Audit (COA) which disallowed the payment to the Amalgamated Motors Philippines Inc. (AMPI), the company that used to supply license cards to LTO, because of the lack of proper contract.

License Card

The issue was brought up when the Senate committee on finance exposed that the Land Transportation Office has been paying AMPI to supply the agency with license card for more than two decades without proper contract.

During the inquest, the committee also discovered that the contract between LTO and AMPI has been expired since 1990 and was renewed annually until 2006 without public bidding.

Meanwhile, AMPI apologizes for the mishap and points out that the scarcity in license card is due to the recent issue in port congestion. The firm expects that things will start to normalize “within the next few days”.

Source

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DOTC enforces revised penalties on road violations

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is implementing a long list of revised fines and penalties for traffic violations. This is now in effect so be sure you’re updated to avoid being caught off-guard when you’re driving in the metro.

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DOTC’s list stretches to over 20 pages so we’re listing down some of the important ones to take note of as casual motorists:

Driving without a valid driver’s license/conductor’s permitPhp3,000 This includes driving with an expired, revoked, suspended, inappropriate driver’s license restriction code, fake driver’s license, and student driver driving without being accompanied by a duly licensed driver.

Reckless drivingPhp2,000 (first offense), Php 3,000 (second offense), Php10,000 (subsequent offense) No person shall operate a motor vehicle on any highway recklessly or without reasonable caution considering the width, traffic, grades, crossing, curvatures, visibility, other conditions of the highway or so to endanger the property of the safety or rights of any person.

Failure to wear seat belt while drivingPhp1,000 (first offense), Php2,000 (second offense), Php5,000 (third offense) This includes allowing a child 6 years old and below to be seated on the front passenger seat.

Failure to wear seat belt as a passengerPhp3,000 for both the driver and the operator for every violation. For Public Utility Vehicles, failure to post appropriate signages instructing front seat passengers to wear seat belts when inside the vehicle.

Failure to wear the standard protective motorcycle helmet for the driver and back riderPhp1,500 (first offense), Php3,000 (second offense), Php 5,000 (third offense), Php10,000 (fourth and succeeding offenses) Wearing a helmet with a fake Philippine standard (PS) or Import Commodity Clearance (ICC) sticker shall be tantamount to riding a moving motorcycle without wearing a helmet.

Failure to carry driver’s license, certificate of registration, or official receipt while driving a motor vehiclePhp1,000

Driving an unregistered vehiclePhp10,000 This includes driving with an improperly-registered motor vehicle or a motor vehicle with expired, revoked, suspended, or invalid registration, unregistered or fake substitute, or replacement engine, engine block, or chassis.

Unauthorized motor vehicle modificationPhp5,000 This includes change in color and other unauthorized modifications of the standard manufacturer’s specification.

Motor vehicle operation without or with defective/improper/unauthorized accessories, devices, equipment, and partsPhp5,000 This includes bells/horns/sirens/whistles, blinkers, brakes, early warning devices, grills, and the likes.

Smoke belchingAny vehicle suspected of violation of emission standards through visual signs such as, but not limited to, smoke belching shall be subjected to an emission test.

All other violations of traffic rules and regulations – Php1,000

There’s also a dedicated section for public vehicles like trucks, buses, jeepneys, and vans on the revised fines and penalties. To view the full list, simply go to DOTC’s website.

{Source} {Image source: philstar.com}

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