Supply of driver’s licenses to ‘normalize’ by Sept

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Supply of driver’s licenses to ‘normalize’ by Sept
Around 108,400 pieces of motor vehicle plates arrived on July 18 at the Land Transportation Office - Philippines, the first batch from the total of 16,040,630 plates to be delivered by the winning bidder Trojan-Tonnjes Joint Venture. Photo from the Department of Transportation.
  • The supply of plastic cards for driver’s licenses should “normalize” by September
  • 130,000 pending plastic driver’s license cards to be distributed by then
  • Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista says electronic driver’s license is now available

The supply of plastic cards for driver’s licenses should “normalize” by September with up to 130,000 unissued license cards expected to be delivered to motorists by then, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said in a statement.

“We’re expecting delivery of the licenses by next week, initially in small numbers. By September, all the pending licenses will have been delivered,” Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said in a mix of Filipino and English on July 18.

“As I had mentioned earlier, the pending licenses not yet issued number around 120,000 to 130,000.”

The transport chief also gave an update on the electronic driver’s license (eDL) being issued by the Land Transportation Office (LTO), which motorists can access via LTO’s Land Transportation Management System Portal.

“The good news is, we have already implemented the so-called digital license. Those who still don’t have them physically, they can see their licenses on their portal,” he said.

Bautista stressed e-DLs can be used as “alternative” identification cards, adding that driver’s license holders must also have a physical copy of the document.

The transport chief clarified that the DOTr and LTO’s forecast shortage of as many as 500,000 plastic cards until October was in response to the latter’s memorandum circular extending the validity of driver’s licenses until October 31.

“We had previously issued a statement saying there were almost 400,000 to 500,000 pending [license cards] because we included those that we have extended until October. Remember that on April 24, there was a memorandum circular extending the validity of licenses expiring April 25 to October 31. By September, we shall be able to issue all these licenses,” Bautista said.

Motorists who were issued paper licenses may already get their physical license cards by August or September, he added.

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