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Friday, March 29, 2024

Car plate program a racket – solon

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An opposition leader in the House of Representatives on Saturday took up the cudgels for millions of vehicle owners in the country and called for the suspension of the mandatory replacement and purchase of new car plates for vehicles and motorcycles already registered with the Land Transportation Office.

Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano III said it is “totally abusive and anomalous” for the LTO to force vehicle owners who follow the law and faithfully register their vehicles yearly and whose car plates are still usable but are forced to buy the new car plates.

“We have no problem with new car purchases but all vehicles already registered with the LTO with usable plates must not be victimized by this multi-billion peso racket,” Albano said.

Albano made the statement in the light of the scandalous findings being unearthed by the Senate on the multi-billion peso car plates program of the LTO which had also prompted the Commission on Audit (COA) to order the transport agency to suspend payments to Power Plates Development Concepts Inc and J. Knieriem BV Goes or JKG, due to “unfulfilled documentary requirements.”

Albano said millions of cars, trucks, motorcycles which had been registered and still have usable car plates are the real victims here more than the new car owners that require new car plates.

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Instead of the “forced purchase” of new car plates being rammed down the throats of vehicle owners, Albano said the LTO as in previous administrations, should issue renewal stickers for the vehicles whose registration are being renewed yearly by their owners.

Albano also denounced what he described as “rotten” car plates mess in the LTO, which he said was a “double whammy” on vehicle owners seeking renewal of their registered vehicles because they are forced buy new car plates” despite having serviceable or usable car plates that are overpriced, as initial findings of the probe on the LTO racket were reported by media.

Albano commended the CoA order for issuing the order to stop the payment to the LTO suppliers.

Albano pointed out that one of the most telling and damning of the LTO new vehicle plate program is its inability to justify the claimed technical superiority of the car plates in relation to the use of required reflective sheeting that had been a feature of past car plates issued by the LTO.

Albano explained that new car plate manufacturing technology in the past decades have improved and adopted high standards of reflective sheeting capability that are based on millions of highly reflective glass beads per square inch of the car plates.

“The LTO and its favored luck supplier have a lot of explaining to do as far as the technical aspects of the new car plates are concerned because it would expose the inferior quality of the car plates and its overprice,” Albano said.

Albano also demanded a congressional probe of the LTO’s vehicle plates program.

Albano said LTO officials slammed LTO officials for claiming that the new car plates have security features when all along their security feature are two pieces of metal bolts that permanently secure the new car plates to ostensibly prevent theft.

“This is the most ridiculous argument because any vehicle involved in a minor accident, or whose car plates have to be removed for necessary repairs will be forced to buy another set of plate from LTO’s partner in crime, JKG ,” Albano said.

Besides, Albano said, the LTO simply resorted to this simplistic and absurd security feature not for crime prevention purposes but for profit making because one has to buy a new set of replacement plates if necessary car repairs requiring car plate removal is needed.

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