Owners of motorcycles purchased in 2016 will no longer be issued license plates until the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Motorcycle Crime Prevention Act is approved and the law is implemented, said Land Transportation Office (LTO) 7 director Victor Caindec.
Caindec on Wednedsay said that new motorcycle license plates were no longer produced since 2016 as the LTO anticipated the enactment of the then-proposed measure, now known as Republic Act No. 11235, and after the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order against the LTO in June 2016, which prevented the agency from distributing the plates it procured.
The TRO was issued following the notice of disallowance (ND) imposed by the Commission on Audit in 2015 in connection with the anomalous purchase of P477.901 million worth of license plates.
Caindec said that although the ND was lifted in 2018, the LTO, in anticipation of the enactment of RA 11235, no longer produced and issued motorcycle plates, as it only released plates for four-wheel vehicles.
“Ang tanan motor na nahalin sukad July 2016 pa-abante ang plaka ana wa na g’yud na ma-produce sigurado…Sigurado g’yud na di na na ma-issue [old plates] kay ang balaod misulti man na mausab ang plaka,” said Caindec.
Caindec clarified that Republic 11235, which mandates larger license plates on the front and rear of motorcycles, has no exact prescribed size for the new plates.
The law orders the LTO to implement the new number plates which have to be readable from a distance of at least 15 meters and be readable from the front, back, and side of the motorcycle.
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According to Caindec, those who have already paid for a license plate but were not issued with one will likely only pay for another if the so-called “doble plaka” provision of the new law is implemented.
“Og ang plaka na nabayran nimo usa kabuok unya ang bag-ong balaod mo-ingon na duha na imong plaka, siguro usa nalang bayran nimo tingali,” said Caindec.
The Department of Transportation and LTO are tasked to craft the IRR within 90 days of the measure’s signing into law.
President Duterte signed the measure into law on March 8, 2019. (A. Doydora)