DOTr - LTO will finally start making its own vehicle plates

Department of Transportation Land Transportation Office Vehicle Plate Number

After inspecting the plate-making machines earlier this month, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and Land Transportation Office (LTO) has inaugurated its vehicle plate manufacturing plant at its Central Office in Quezon City.

Related: Supreme Court halts release of car license plates

The new plant will have seven manual embossing machines. At full production, the DOTr estimates that it will have the capacity to produce 22,000 plates per day. Moreover, the plate manufacturing plant will receive one automated embossing machine by July 2018 and be operational by August of the same year.

The LTO had a lot on its plate when we took over. There was a huge backlog in license cards, while the court stopped the distribution of plates. Isa-isa nating sinolusyunan ‘yan. Ngayon, may lisensya na at five years pa ang validity. Ngayon, hindi lang basta na-distribute ang mga plaka. Gagawa pa tayo ng sariling plaka.

Arthur Tugade
Transportation Secretary

As a recap, the Supreme Court (SC) issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the release of the license plates seized by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) last June 2016. Fast forward to January this year, the TRO has been lifted and has released 700,000 vehicle plates.