THE Land Transportation Office (LTO) has deferred the implementation of the prohibition against the use of improvised and temporary plates for motor vehicles to December this year.
Originally, the LTO is set to start apprehending all motor vehicles and motorcycles using non-LTO issued license plate by September 1.
In a statement, Vigor Mendoza II, LTO chief, said the extension should not be used as an excuse by motor vehicle owners whose license plates are available but have yet to install them in their vehicles.
‘We ask motorists to claim and install their respective license plates as soon as they are available either in the car dealerships or replacement plates in our offices,” said Mendoza.
The LTO earlier issued a memorandum circular against the use of improvised and temporary plates after an initial investigation revealed that registered owners of vehicles, especially the newly bought ones, are not claiming their license plates from motor vehicle dealerships.
Thousands of license plates remain unclaimed in various motor vehicle dealerships.
Mendoza also said the installation of license plates is the LTO’s contribution to crime prevention measures as some vehicles are being used in criminal activities.
“There is no more backlog in four-wheel vehicles so there is no reason for these vehicle owners not to claim and install them in their vehicles,” he said.
However, the deadline extension will not diminish the LTO’s efforts to aggressively come up with measures to deliver all the unclaimed license plates to the rightful owners, Mendoza added.
He said he has instructed the LTO regional directors and district office heads to coordinate with the local government units for the distribution of the license plates.
