LTO declines 4M plastic cards donation for driver's license

The Land Transportation Office (LTO) declined to accept a donation of 4 million plastic cards for driver's licenses, according to Jamie Santos' report in Unang Balita on Thursday.

The donation is worth P160 million from the Philippine Society of Medicine for Drivers, which is an accredited clinic of the LTO.

“Ayaw natin na libre nga yung cards na merong mga grupo o indibidwal na mapapaburan ng donation na ito, despite the fact that the donor said hindi, puwedeng mapaburan iyong grupo ng donor,” said LTO chief Vigor Mendoza II.

(We don't want the cards to be free. There may be groups or individuals who may get favors with this donation, despite the donor already saying they won't accept favors.)

Mendoza added that they will let the Department of Transportation (DOTr) craft guidelines for accepting donations before considering accepting the plastic cards.

“Minabuti po namin na dumulog sa DOTr para sa ganun baka puwede nila kaming tulungan tapos sila na ang mag-craft ng guidelines,” Vigor said.

(We decided to consult the DOTr. Maybe they can help us and craft guidelines.)

The donation was supposed to address the backlog in the issuance of driver’s licenses.

Currently, there is a backlog of 2.6 million driver's licenses, Mendoza told Dobol B TV in an interview.

In August 2023, a court issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) that prevented the LTO from receiving plastic cards from contractor Banner PlastiCard. Around 3.2 million plastic cards were affected.

The TRO was issued after the losing bidder and the one with the lowest bid, AllCard Inc., filed a complaint.

As these issues prevent the supply of driver’s licenses, the LTO has already tapped the National Printing Office to produce around 6 million plastic cards.

Due to lack of supply of plastic cards, the LTO has been printing driver’s licenses on papers. —Joviland Rita/ VAL, GMA Integrated News