Oops. Give them more time.
After promising to address the license plate backlog before the year ends, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) has moved its target completion date to 2020.
In an infographic showing its new plate-making facility, the LTO said that “there will no longer be a backlog of vehicle license plates“ by 2020.
This comes after an announcement assuring motorists that all types of vehicles that currently have conduction stickers will finally get their license plates before the year ends.
The agency admitted that it was previously not capable of manufacturing vehicle license plates on its own, which led to the license plate backlog.
“Production and distribution of vehicle license plates were slower as the service was outsourced,” it said.
In order to address the backlog, however, the LTO improved its plate-making facility by acquiring one automated embossing machine, which the LTO says can emboss 700 plates in an hour or an estimated 5,600 plates over an eight-hour shift per day.
The agency also added seven manual embossing machines, hot foil stamping machines, and 25 radio frequency identification printers.
In 2018, the Department of Transportation said that around 11 million plates from as far back as 2013 were yet to be distributed to vehicle owners after legal issues were been resolved.
