MANILA, Philippines – When Vigor Mendoza II stepped into his new role as Land Transportation Office (LTO) chief on Tuesday, July 25, he made one thing clear: “Let’s not waste time.” And with the driver’s license plastic card shortage and license plate backlog hounding the agency, he certainly has little time to spare.

“Let’s not waste time sa rami ng kailangang gawin at sa rami ng kailangan nating maayos. Sana maayos natin sa lalong madaling panahon, and then in the next 5 years, dahan-dahan na lang tayo,” Assistant Secretary Mendoza said during his oath-taking on Tuesday. 

(Let’s not waste time with all the things we have to do and fix. I hope we can fix them as soon as possible, and then in the next 5 years, we’ll take it slowly.)

Mendoza is now the fourth LTO chief to lead the agency under the Marcos administration. The dizzying speed at which LTO chiefs were replaced exposed a messy transition process in the agency. The previous officer-in-charge, Hector Villacorta, also complained that there was no turnover of documents when he took the post from Jay Art Tugade.

In the meantime, Mendoza continues to face the daunting task of resolving the driver’s license shortage and distributing the more than 1.7 million license plates stockpiled in LTO offices.

Driver’s license cards arrive

On Tuesday, the new assistant secretary and Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista also received the first batch of license cards from Banner Plasticard Incorporated. This initial batch, which amounted to at least 5,000 plastic cards, will be used to make licenses for Overseas Filipino Workers and new driver’s license applicants. 

The supplier is expected to produce 15,000 to 30,000 daily as part of its commitment to deliver 1 million cards within the next two months. As a result, the shortage of plastic driver’s license cards will normalize by September, with up to 130,000 cards expected to be issued by then, according to Secretary Bautista. 

When the shortage of plastic driver’s license cards first came to light under Tugade’s term, the LTO implemented several measures: extending the validity of existing licenses, issuing temporary paper licenses, and also launching a digital driver’s license. 

For those who received paper licenses, Bautista estimated they could claim their physical license cards by around August or September.

Meanwhile, motorists can also continue using their electronic driver’s license, which can be accessed through the LTMS portal here. – Rappler.com