MANILA, Philippines – The Land Transportation Office (LTO) on Tuesday, March 26, said that they will be imposing additional “minimal fees” for the new motorcycle license plates.

President Rodrigo Duterte recently signed the Motorcycle Crime Prevention Act or Republic Act No. 11235 which requires all motorcycles to have larger, more readable, and color-coded number plates. It also requires motorcycles to have plates in front and behind it.

In a briefing on Tuesday, LTO chief Edgar Galvante said that a technical working group will be studying the additional costs for the new plates that will be shouldered by motorists when they register their motorcycles.

“‘Yun lamang gastos para sa karagdagan, minimal, para ma-cover lang ‘yung design na mas malaki at required na additional [plate]. Isa sa tatalakayin ng TWG is to arrive at a reasonable cost na sisingilin sa rehistro. Hindi pa namin nakikita kung magkano, but definitely hindi ito sobrang laki,” Galvante said.

(We will be hiking minimal fees to cover the bigger design and the required additional plate. One of the things that we will discuss at the TWG is to arrive at a reasonable cost for motorcycle registration. We don’t know how much yet, but definitely not too much.)

The LTO chief also dispelled rumors that the additional plates to be placed in front of the motorcycle will be made of metal. Some motorcycle groups cited possible hazards in doing so. (READ: 10,000 motorcycle riders stage EDSA protest vs bigger plates)

“It’s not true that the material used for the front plates will be metal. The law does not say anything about using metals. Of course, the material must be sturdy enough to serve the purpose of having a plate that is readable from a distance of 15 meters,” Galvante said in a mix of English and Filipino.

WATCH: LTO’s suggested motorcycle plates.

Galvante dispelled rumors that the plates placed in front will be metal. He said that the law does not identify the material to be metal, but only “sturdy” enough and seen from a distance of 15 meters pic.twitter.com/PTmweNTvlj

— Aika Rey (@reyaika) March 26, 2019

Galvante said they are also considering the use of sticker materials or decals for the front plate.

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the LTO will be crafting the implementing rules and regulations of the new law.

Backlog on license plates 

On Thursday, Galvante said that 254,000 license plates registered from July 2016 onwards have been delivered.

The LTO chief said the total backlog, including those from the Aquino administration, will be addressed fully by mid-2020.

The backlog had stemmed from a controversial P3.8-billion contract bid out in 2013, whose legality was questioned.

The LTO said the total backlog in license plates, dating back to 2014, has reached 8 million. Since July 2016, or when the Duterte administration began, it’s 3 million.

As of March 2019, LTO said 1.7 million pairs of vehicle plates have been printed.

Galvante said they will be increasing the shifts of their manual license embossing machines to accommodate the motorcycle license plates they have to produce due to the new law. This is on top of license plates produced by the automated equipment.

“‘Yung gagawing plaka for motorcycle, napakarami niyan. Kailangan dagdagan pa natin ‘yung shift from 2 1/2 shift lang. Gagawin naming 3 shifts para lalong bumilis ang production,” Galvante said.

(There are a lot of motorcycle plates needed to be produced. We need to increase the shifts from 2 1/2 shifts to 3 shifts for faster production.)

In April 2018, the DOTr announced the purchase of 7 manual embossing machines to address the backlog in license plates. These machines can make 22,000 license plates per day “at full production.”

An automated embossing machine was also delivered and it can produce 12,000 license plates per day. – Rappler.com