Cartoon By: Aaron Paul C. Caril
EDITORIAL
Window dressing inefficiency and neglect of duty
Under Memorandum Circular No. VDM-2024 2721, dated July 01, 2024, the Land
Transportation Office (LTO) has officially declared no backlog in producing motor vehicle
plates. Hence, the circular orders that all motor vehicles and motorcycles using non-
LTO-issued plate numbers shall be apprehended, and appropriate legal actions and
penalties shall be imposed.
However, the realities on the ground do not indicate the absence of a backlog.
The Facebook page of LTO Region 7 is receiving a barrage of hate comments on the
impending apprehensions of vehicles bearing temporary or improvised plates.
Philip Cecille Pojas Villamor commented: “Sir unsaon mn ni 2017 pa akoa motor
gipalit hantod krun wla akoa plate number ddto ko gneha sa companya g ingnan rko
wla pa daw gi release sa LTO ky ang 2017 daw apil sa backlog sa mga plaka naa koi
vdeo dre nga maoy g ingun sa staff sa companya.”
Commenting on a news article in Cebu Daily News (CDN), Felipe Soriano said
that the LTO has always been an incompetent government agency since its existence.
What it is demonstrating now is just a continuation of that incompetence. If an agency
can’t supply vehicle plates you paid for 8 years ago, would you not even say that it is
even guilty of thievery? And if it can’t even supply simple plate stickers to indicate one’s
vehicle is up to date in registration, isn’t this LTO a dead agency?
As reported by CDN, Senator Francis Tolentino strongly disagrees with the
directive issued by the Land Transportation Office (LTO) -7 to apprehend motorcycles
without a plate or using an improvised plate starting September 01, 2024. The senator
mentioned that he saw a video circulating online where people are lining up to inquire
about their plates or to secure a certificate so they won’t be apprehended since their
plate numbers are unavailable.
“Medyo masama po yun kasi nabalitaan ko nung isang araw na yung mga mall
dito ay ang haba ng pila kasi hindi naman nabibigyan ng LTO ng plaka. Tapos huhulihin
nila sa September 1. Ang ginawa nila para daw hindi mahuli ay mag-iisyu sila ng
certification.”
While LTO’s intention to implement the law could have been worthy of
commendation, the apprehension of motor vehicles with no LTO-issued plate is nothing
but a cover-up of its gross inefficiencies and neglect of duty over the years. The backlog
in vehicle production has been an elephant in the room for years.
With the realities on the ground disproving the absence of a backlog, we can
surmise that Memorandum Circular No. VDM-2024 2721 is issued to window-dress a
problem that has never been fully resolved in answer to the mounting pressure from
the Palace and Congress to address the problem. The apprehensions starting today are
LTO’s fishing expedition searching for evidence to legitimize its false claim.