The Land Transportation Office on Thursday said it is exploring the possibility of issuing license plates through car dealers.

“Ang aming ine-explore ngayon, paglabas ng sasakyan sa dealer, may plaka na. Para wala ng turuan,” LTO chief Assistant Secretary Vigor Mendoza II said, adding that the suggestion came from car dealers themselves.

He said he is set to meet with car dealers on March 5 to iron out the agreement and set a pilot run in the same month. “Hopefully we can do a pilot. If it’s successful, we will propagate it nationwide,” he said.

He added the LTO can issue a new license plate for new vehicles in 5 days, following Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon’s challenge to release plates for new vehicles within 72 hours.

“Sa ngayon LTO does it in five days. Nakalabas na ang plaka at or/cr in 5 days,” Mendoza said.

The LTO chief is also eyeing the possibility of issuing license plates for new motorcycles at the manufacturing level.

“Sa motorsiklo, we have spoken already to the motorcycle dealers association, the suggestion came from them. We are meeting naman with the manufacturers. Ang ating iniisip d’yan, paglabas ng planta, may plaka na,” he said.

A 2024 Commission on Audit report earlier said LTO has a backlog of over 9 million license plates for motorcycles.

COA calls out LTO for 9 million backlog in motorcycle plates

Mendoza said the  backlog should have decreased to 4 million by March this year but admitted problems with the bidding for new license plates.

“We will be getting around 2 million this March.  Out of the 9 million, finished plate na yan, hindi na gagawin sa planta. Hindi kasi kakayanin ng planta. Yung 4 million na matitira, kaya ng planta yan. By June this year, lahat ng backlog sa plaka, ay produced na yan. We will make it available to everybody,” he said.