LTO releases guidelines on the use of temporary certificate of registration

Back in 2024, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) announced that it had resolved a potential shortage issue of security paper used in the printing of certificates of registration for motor vehicles. However, the fix was only expected to tide the department over for a few months; nonetheless, thanks to the proactive action of the LTO, the paper shortage was kept at bay.

Now, the LTO faces another supply issue of the same kind as before, and it has now issued a new memorandum outlining guidelines for the use of Temporary Certificates of Registration (CR) for motor vehicles (MV), motorcycles (MC), and trailers (TRL). According to the LTO, this shortage is due to delivery delays from the National Printing Office (NPO).

Recently, the LTO released Memorandum Circular No. MVL-2026-4911 to keep services running without interruption despite the shortage of security paper used for official Certificates of Registration.

The circular also provides clear guidelines on the use and issuance of Temporary CRs, which will serve as provisional documents until the official security paper CRs are available. The directive covers all New Registration Units, Authorized District Offices, and District and Extension Offices handling new registrations and other vehicle-related transactions.

Once a fresh supply of security paper arrives, offices will prioritize printing and releasing the official CRs for those who were previously issued Temporary CRs. Vehicle owners and their authorized representatives will be informed as soon as their official documents are ready for release.

The agency assured the public that it is working closely with the NPO and is doing everything it can to fix the issue as soon as possible. The LTO has not provided a clear timeline for when supplies will stabilize, but with any hope, this issue will be resolved before it causes any more problems for the agency and the people it serves.