Earlier this week, the newly-appointed chief of the Land Transportation Office (LTO), Atty. Vigor Mendoza II told CNN Philippines’ The Source that the agency will be issuing a memo that license plates should be delivered to their owners within 60 days. Additionally, owners might get penalized if their plates are not claimed within 60 days, and the agency was reported to be considering one senator’s suggestion of canceling the vehicle’s certificate of registration.

According to LTO, there was a bit of misunderstanding somewhere along the line, and the 60-day deadline was intended for agency officials and dealers.

“In order to set the record straight, the 60-day deadline to get the unclaimed license plates is not for the motor vehicle owners. It is actually a directive to all our Regional Directors, District Chiefs, Offices, and Extension Offices to find the best ways to properly and efficiently distribute the unclaimed license plates within 60 days,” said LTO Asec. Mendoza.

The LTO chief also added that the same 60-day deadline was also intended for car and motorcycle dealers, as the agency received reports that there are thousands of plates under their custody, with some using these plates as leverage to force clients to stay updated with their monthly dues.

“The same order covers car dealers and motorcycle dealers because we also received reports that there are a number of unclaimed license plates in their custody… The order is not intended for the motor vehicle owners because it’s the LTO’s mandate to issue plates,” added Mendoza.

In his recent visit to LTO Region 7, Mendoza found out that there are still some 640,000 license plates (670,000 was the previous statement) that remain unclaimed, 400,000 of which are for motorcycles.