THE Land Transportation Office (LTO) on Monday announced it is down to the last one million plastic cards for driver’s licenses as an offshoot of a preliminary injunction issued by the court on the government’s procurement of plastic cards.
At the same time, LTO chief Vigor Mendoza II warned of another impending shortage of plastic cards for driver’s licenses if a writ of preliminary injunction (WPI) were granted to its previous card supplier, Allcard, Inc.
Mendoza said the remaining plastic cards were sufficient for the April, May, and June backlogs, as well as for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) seeking to renew their driver’s licenses.
“We are down to one million cards…This is on a first come, first served basis,” Mendoza said in a TeleRadyo Serbisyo interview.
The LTO is now discussing with the National Printing Office (NPO) if the latter could manufacture the license cards under a government-to-government deal.
“Well, one option is the government-to-government transaction if the NPO can manufacture that for us. We are talking to them if they could,” Mendoza said in a TeleRadyo Serbisyo interview.
“This would be an emergency acquisition, and that (price) would be a little higher. But that would just be fine,” he added.
Meanwhile, Mendoza said OFWs who want to renew their licenses before leaving will need to present their tickets at the LTO, he said.
The agency said it will also ask the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to accelerate the bidding of the driver’s supply license cards for next year.
In a press briefing, Mendoza said a Quezon City regional trial court has issued a writ of preliminary injunction meant to stop the delivery of plastic cards to the LTO offices.
“This injunction is not yet in effect because the court also ordered the petitioner Allcard to deposit an injunction bond in the amount of P6 million),” Mendoza said.
Compared to the previous temporary restraining order that resulted a license card shortage, he said the writ does not expire until the court makes its decision on the case, through a motion for reconsideration or if the WPI is reversed by the Court of Appeals.
“But until such time a reversal or a new order is released by the court, if the WPI takes effect, we will be forced to comply,” he said.
With the WPI in effect, the LTO can only release driver’s licenses that expired in May and June.
“If that injunction is issued, we will not be able to cover the current usage, those who apply daily for November and December,” he said.
To date, he said the LTO issues an average of 500,000 to 600,000 licenses per month, making up a total of around 1.9 million cards so far with current contractor Banner Plasticard, Inc.
“The total package is 5.2 million, more or less 3.3 million before the contract is complete. Our supplier hasn’t stopped yet because like I said, the WPI is not yet in effect,” he said.
The next plastic card contract, he said, will consist of 4.6 million plastic cards that should be enough supply for nine months beginning January 2024.
In addition, he said an LTO technical working group is studying the possibility of electronic driver’s licenses (e-licenses).
“We’re also done with the study for the e-license, at least for domestic use. This is what we’re looking at as) long-term solution for this driver’s license problem,” he said.
Once rolled out, he said e-licenses may save the government around P300 to P400 million per year.