LTO sets new deadline for renewal of expired licenses

MANILA, October 6 ----- Driver’s licenses that expired between April and September have to be renewed ahead of the previously announced 2024 automatic extended validity, the Land Transportation Office said after it received a “sufficient” supply of plastic cards. Instead of being valid until April 2024, licenses that expired in April this year have to be renewed by Oct. 31, 2023, based on a memorandum issued by the LTO. Failure to do so shall render the license expired, it added.

“Mayroon na tayong sapat na drivers license cards para ma-issue sa kanila… We made sure na talagang tamang-tama lang ang kapasidad ng ating licensing centers to cater to their needs,” LTO Chief Assistant Secretary Vigor Mendoza said in a press conference. “Halos isang buwan po ito. Siguro naman isang araw, 15 minutes, may availability siya, they can go to any of our malls, driver’s license extension centers. Hindi mahaba masyado ang pila niyan. Sandali lang ang processing time n’yan,” he added.

Asked whether the LTO would be open to extending the deadline for renewal, Mendoza said it would depend on whether the reasons for the extension were justified. “We’re not naman inflexible… Babantayan naman namin. There are circumstances, let’s say, ‘wag naman sana, kalamidad that will prevent people from applying for renewal of their license, madali naman natin i-adjust ‘yan. Pero for now, ‘wag na muna natin i-adjust. Otherwise, wala tayong gagawin kung hindi mag-adjust,” he said. “If there are justifiable reasons naman, why not? Hindi naman tayo bingi sa mga nangyayari. Kung talagang may mga lehitimong rason, we can always make exceptions. Pero gusto na rin namin matapos itong backlog,” Mendoza added.

Based on the new schedule, driver’s licenses that expired last May have the entire month of November for renewal, while December will be dedicated for those with licenses that expired last June. Individuals with licenses that expired in July, August, and September this year are also given the entire month of January, February and March next year, respectively, to renew. “Ginawa nating staggered, hindi natin sinabay-sabay... ‘Yung ating supply ng ating plastic cards ay staggered din naman… Ayaw natin na bigla-bigla na lang lahat pupunta sa ating district offices, mabibilaukan ang ating personnel. Chances are hahaba ang pila. We’d like to avoid magkaroon ng long queues sa ating licensing centers,” Mendoza said.

The LTO targets to catch up with all 2.4 million backlogs in driver’s licenses by the end of March. “By March 31, 2024, we are back on track, wala na tayong backlog,” Mendoza said. A temporary restraining order (TRO) by a Quezon City court previously prevented the agency from receiving plastic cards for the licenses due to legal issues raised by a losing bidder. “Wala pang injunction na na-issue ang court. The TRO has already expired, kaya tuloy-tuloy lang ang production and deliveries,” Mendoza said.

The LTO, meanwhile, targets to wipe out its backlog of 80,000 motor vehicle license plates in November, and 13 million motorcycle license plates by April 2025. Mendoza said the two plate-making machines currently under maintenance are expected to be ready for production within the second half of the month. They are estimated to increase the production capacity to 42,000 to 45,000 plates a day this November from the current 32,000 to 33,000 plates. “We hope that will come on stream sometime in third, fourth week of this month, so that first week of November, we are running on full capacity, two shifts a day. That will reach our overall capacity to a bit over 1 million plates a month,” the LTO chief said. “With that level of production, ‘yung backlog ng motorvehicle, which is around 80,000 plates ay mawa-wipe out by November of this year. Ang medyo magtatagal ‘yung 13 million motorcycle plates. Ang target namin ‘yan ay April 2025 mawa-wipe out,” he added. “Ang pina-prioritize ‘yung mga sasakyang walang plaka,” Mendoza noted.

The Land Transportation Office is also in talks with motorcycle and motor vehicle dealers to target the release of license plates for newly purchased units within 7 to 10 days from the submission of all documents to the LTO. “We want to agree with the dealers that we are able to deliver the plates within 7 to 10 days from the time all the documents are forwarded to the LTO. So dapat mabilis din sila. Kasi may dealers na matagal mag-forward ng documents sa LTO. Those things we have to address. Kasi ‘yung iba dyan online na,” Mendoza said.

Source: news.abs-cbn.com