LTO wants barangay officers to help ID unregistered vehicles

In order to compel motorists who own vehicles with expired or delinquent registrations, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) has a new idea: tap the help of barangay officials to pinpoint their constituents whose vehicle has expired registration.

“Sa level ng barangay ay madali ng malalaman ng ating mga opisyales ng barangay kung sino-sino at ilan sa kanilang mga constituents ang hindi rehistrado ang mga motorsiklo at mga sasakyan. Kaya tayo po ay hihingi ng tulong sa kanila tungkol dito,” said LTO Chief, Atty. Vigor Mendoza II.

(It would be easier for officials at the barangay level to pinpoint their constituents with expired motorcycle or vehicle registrations. That’s why we will be asking for their help on this one.)

In line with this, the LTO is planning to conduct a motor vehicle registration caravan and will bring it closer to motorists at the barangay level in order to encourage delinquent owners to register their motor vehicles amid the strict implementation of “No Registration, No Travel” policy.

“By doing a motor vehicle registration caravan, we at LTO show that we’re not just for enforcement [of laws]. We will be going to bring the services of the LTO closer to our clients,” added Mendoza.

According to LTO, close to 25 million vehicles have expired or delinquent registrations, mostly motorcycles. Because of this, the LTO has also reported an income loss of PHP 37 billion for 2023. A huge percentage of these delinquent vehicles come from NCR, Region 3 and Region 4A.

Part of the planned motor vehicle registration caravan, according to Mendoza, is the effort to simplify the entire registration process, especially for the LTO clients who are facing difficulty with the use of online platforms.

“This is extra effort for us in LTO but all our struggles will be worth it because we’re talking about the roadworthiness of vehicles [on the road] and it’s also LTO’s mandate,” said Mendoza.

The LTO is currently conducting aggressive implementation of the “No Registration, No Travel” policy which has so far resulted in the apprehension of hundreds of motor vehicles across the country.

Mendoza urged delinquent motor vehicle owners to register in order to avoid serious problems that include impoundment of their motor vehicles, which corresponds to a PHP 10,000 penalty plus impounding fees.