The Land Transportation Office (LTO) has announced that plastic license cards will be available in Metro Manila starting Mon, Dec 19.
LTO Assistant Secretary Edgar Galvante said drivers who have pending applications from Jan 1 to Oct 16, 2016 may claim their cards at 36 licensing offices in Metro Manila.
Applicants only need to present the official receipt issued to them when they applied for their license card. The public is also warned not to transact with fixers who may deceive them and ask for fees to claim their cards.
“I would like to caution all the claimants that they need not pay a single centavo to claim their driver’s licenses since they have already paid for it,” according to Galvante.
The Metro Manila release of the cards will erase 700,000 of the backlog of 3 million driver’s license cards that are valid for three (3) years. Rollout in other regions will follow, and is expected to be completed by Feb 2017.
LTO’s last supplier of cards was Allcard Philippines Inc but its contract had expired last May.
The shortage of license cards started in 2013 when the Commission on Audit disallowed payments to former supplier, Amalgamated Motor Philippines Inc., for lack of a proper contract. —Aerol John B. Patena, Philippine News Agency (PNA)
