The Land Transportation Office (LTO) plans to manufacture 18 million motorcycle plates before the year 2022 ends to catch up with its backlog.
The LTO said it would tap other manufacturers to help produce millions of motorcycle plate numbers that the agency had failed to deliver to motorists.
“Kaya ang LTO pati DOTr (Department of Transportation) na yung 2017 (registered motorcycles) pababa, ipapagawa na po natin sa mga ibang manufacturers ng plates,” LTO chief Edgar Galvante said in the Laging Handa briefing on June 28.
The LTO will manufacture plate numbers for motorcycles registered 2018 above. But the pandemic has delayed the delivery of additional equipment that will help LTO manufacture more plate numbers to ease the backlog, the official said.
Earlier, Sen. Richard Gordon called on LTO officials to resign after failing to release motorcycle plates since 2013.
Gordon attributed the rising cases of crimes involving motorcycle-riding suspects to the backlog, with the absence of plates giving authorities a hard time in tracing the culprits. Dominic Emanuel Apolona