SC temporarily halts LTO release of car, motorcycle plates

The Supreme Court (SC) stopped the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) and the Land Transportation Office (LTO) from releasing 700,000 license plates for motor vehicles and motorcycles.

SC’s Public Information Chief Atty. Theodore Te on Tuesday said the DOTC and the LTO are prohibited from releasing and/or distributing, or disposing in any manner the license plates which were turned over by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) last April 15, 2016.

Covered by the temporary restraining order (TRO) are the 300,000 pairs of license plates for cars and 400,000 license plates for motorcycles.

The high court issued the restraining order after outgoing party-list Representative Jonathan Dela Cruz and Parañaque Representative Gustavo Tambunting filed a petition with the high court saying the confiscated license plates cannot be donated by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to the LTO because of the notice of disallowance issued by the Commission on Audit (COA).

The license plates were confiscated and seized from Power Plates Development Concepts Inc./J. Knieriem B.V. Goes (PPI-JKG) for non-payment of taxes and customs duties.

COA issued a notice of disallowance last July 13, 2015 in connection with the LTO’s Motor Vehicle License Plate Standardization Program (LTO-MVLPSP).

Because of the notice of disallowance, DOTC/LTO and PPI-JKG are required to deliver to the Bureau of Treasury the advance payment made by LTO to PPI-JKG worth P477,901,329.00.

Te said the restraining order stays while the high court delves into the merits of the case. – Tetch Torres-Tupas, IDL/rga