The Land Transportation Office (LTO) asked all regional directors and district office heads to set up dedicated lanes for the registration of delinquent motor vehicle owners as part of its efforts to handle 24.7 million motor vehicles with expired permits.
LTO chief Vigor Mendoza II said the directive is part of “Oplan Balik Rehistro, Be Road Ready” which was approved by Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista.
“All owners who will avail of voluntary registration under this oplan shall be given priority, and all district/extension offices shall designate a fast lane for this purpose,” Mendoza said in a memorandum.
About 24.7 million motor vehicles, mostly motorcycles, were classified as delinquent motor vehicles with expired registration for at least one year. The figure represents 65 percent of all unregistered vehicles in the country.
Mendoza said the LTO was conducting strict law enforcement operations through the no-registration, no-travel policy, where apprehended motor vehicles with expired licenses are subjected to hefty penalties, including a P10,000 fine.
“One has to pay a huge fine. That is why we are reaching out to the delinquent motor vehicle owners in order for them to avoid these stiff penalties, and this includes providing priority lanes for them in all our district and extension offices,” he said.
The agency earlier conducted a one-stop shop/service caravan/outreach program to bring its offices, particularly the registration of delinquent motor vehicles, closer to the people.
“We are implementing programs to reach out to our clients so that they will be encouraged to register their motor vehicles. We do not want to reach a point that we will apprehend them,” Mendoza said.
“So I am appealing to all motor vehicle owners with expired registration to take advantage of these programs. These are all designed to make our services convenient for you and at the same time, to show the concern of the government,” he said.