All vehicle license plates with dealers, agencies say

As the “no registration, no travel” policy for motor vehicles went into effect, the Department of Transportation and Communications and the Land Transportation Office maintained they had issued to car dealers all the license plates for cars registered at the LTO’s National Capital Region office.

In a statement on Tuesday, the DOTC gave the list of Metro Manila car dealers, rebuilders and importers the LTO-NCR office transacted with from January to March 27 to show that the license plates for new four-wheel vehicles in the metropolis had been released.

The LTO list, which was posted on the DOTC website, indicated the license plates’ series numbers and when the plates were claimed by the dealers from the LTO-NCR.

“We are opening this list to the public in order to help new vehicle owners identify where their plates may be. According to the LTO, all license plates for new vehicles whose original registrations were applied for at the NCR Regional Office had been released to the dealers as of March 19,” Transportation Secretary Jun Abaya said in the statement.

Motorists have been complaining about the “no registration, no travel” policy that will be implemented beginning April 1 and which would require that all cars sport license plates or the driver will be apprehended.

Under the policy, the car owner may be fined P10,000 for having an unregistered vehicle and the driver P1,000 for reckless driving, unless they can present documents showing the car was registered or undergoing the seven-day registration process.

But motorists have cried foul, saying the LTO takes more than seven days to issue license plates. The LTO and DOTC in turn passed the blame for the delay to the car dealers who, they said, hoarded applications before submitting them to the LTO.

“We’ve received reports that some dealers have taken months to even start the application process, so this will help the public monitor whether they are getting the services they paid for,” said LTO chief, Assistant Secretary Alfonso Tan Jr., in a statement.

“We advise new motor vehicle owners who have yet to receive their license plates to ask their dealers to furnish them with proof of registration application,” Tan added. –Jaymee T. Gamil