An LTO employee shows some driver鈥檚 licenses that have yet to be distributed. (File Photo of the INQUIRER / NI脩O JESUS ORBETA)
The Land Transportation Office (LTO) is scrambling to find sources for driver鈥檚 license plastic cards as its supply is in a 鈥渟tate of emergency鈥� and will be depleted in about two weeks.
LTO chief Assistant Secretary Vigor Mendoza II said they were hoping that an 鈥渁gency-to-agency鈥� procurement of plastic cards would solve the problem, as the agency could still not use the 4 million plastic cards donated by a private group in December last year.
At a press briefing on Thursday, Mendoza said the LTO needed at least 6.5 million plastic cards for the regular demand in 2024 and another 2.6 million to address the backlog from the previous year.
搁贰础顿:听No more paper driver鈥檚 license in 2024 鈥� LTO
As of Thursday, the LTO has only 270,000 remaining plastic cards in its district offices, which Mendoza projected would last until the end of the month.
To address the shortage of plastic cards, the LTO has extended the validity of driver鈥檚 licenses expiring in November and December 2023 and January 2024 to April this year.
鈥淲e have many options that we are exploring, but perhaps the most advanced, prominent, and transparent process would be an agency-to-agency acquisition of driver鈥檚 licenses. I think this is the fastest way to get the driver鈥檚 licenses before February, at the latest,鈥� he said.
The LTO has already requested quotations from the three government printers鈥攖he National Printing Office, Apo Production Unit, and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
The quotations were already forwarded to the LTO鈥檚 parent agency, the Department of Transportation (DOTr), which would decide on which agency it would proceed with the procurement.
鈥淚f we look at the capability and readiness in terms of the delivery of the plastic license cards, our government printing offices are more ready [than private firms],鈥� he noted.
Delayed donation
Last month, the LTO promised that the agency would no longer issue temporary paper driver鈥檚 licenses to motorists after securing 4 million plastic cards.
On Dec. 18, 2023, Mendoza agreed with the Philippine Society of Medicine for Drivers, an association of medical clinics accredited by the LTO, for the 鈥渦nconditional donation鈥� of 4 million pieces of plastic cards, which would be used in the printing of driver鈥檚 licenses.
The first batch of plastic cards was scheduled to be delivered this month. Under the agreement, 300,000 plastic cards will be given every 15 days after the first delivery is completed, and 100,000 pieces for the last delivery to complete the 4 million pieces of plastic cards.
However, Mendoza said the donation was still being reviewed by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) to ensure that it followed existing laws.
He could not give a timeline on when the OSG would be able to release its legal opinion on the donation agreement.
But should it get the go-ahead from the OSG, the donation would also need to be inspected by the House committee on transportation, and by the Department of Science and Technology.
Big gov鈥檛 savings
鈥淚t takes some time because it鈥檚 a new process, new procedure. This is the first time plastic cards are donated to the LTO,鈥� Mendoza explained. 鈥淭he DOTr just wanted to be careful that [the donation agreement has] no hanky-panky or side deals.鈥�
Mendoza said the donated plastic cards would mean P2 billion in savings for the government.
鈥淚t just so happened that at the time [the donation] was offered to us, it was an alternative available to us at the quickest possible time. At the end of the day, what we were aiming for was to bring the services down to the people at the quickest possible time and in the most transparent manner,鈥� he added.
LTO鈥檚 2.6 million backlog of undelivered driver鈥檚 licenses arose after a Quezon City Regional Trial Court issued a writ of preliminary injunction against Banner Plasticard Inc. in October last year, which won the bidding to supply 5.2 million plastic cards.