WHILE the Land Transportation Office (LTO) reported the registration of some 8.5 million motorcycles, its head has admitted that tens of millions more are not registered.
LTO chief and Assistant Secretary for Land Transportation Vigor Mendoza said numerous motorcycles either have expired registrations or are still in the name of the original owners due to the failure of the new owners to apply for transfer of ownership after purchasing the vehicle.
“The number (8.5 million registered) may seem big, but there are more motorcycles in the streets. A lot of these are unregistered or have expired registration. We are looking at 16-17 million (unregistered motorcycles),” he said.
“The concentration is the National Capital Region, Region 3 and Region 4,” Mendoza added.
As far back as 2003, Mendoza said, “there were 38 million four-wheeled vehicles and motorcycles on the road but only 13.9 million were registered, according to LTO data.”
“Majority of vehicles on the road are not registered,” he said.
Mendoza said some motorcycle owners fail to register their vehicles especially if they are in a 3- to 5-year payment plan. Law enforcers should go after these unregistered motorcycles, he said.
He warned that failure to transfer ownership of vehicles could cause problems if the vehicle is involved in an accident.
“The registered owner is the one liable,” he said.