‘OR’ is enough proof of license

A LAWMAKER on Tuesday urged the Land Transportation Office (LTO) not to waste resources amid reports of a shortage of drivers’ plastic license cards.

“The official receipt (OR) should be enough. Huwag na natin dagdagan ang gastos at mag-print pa ng temporary driver’s license na naka-print sa papel lang,” AGRI Party-list Representative Wilbert T. Lee said.

“Huwag nang magsayang ng pera,” he pointed out.

The LTO this week confirmed the shortage, which they said was the result of a department order they received in January, stating that all procurements involving P50 million and above should be conducted by the Department of Transportation (DOTr) central office.

The agency also said that its inventory of plastic card licenses is forecast to “run out” by the last week of this month completely.

The LTO also announced that it will be extending the validity of licenses that are expiring soon after it faced backlash over the weekend over the news of the shortage.

Lee underscored the need for government agencies not to waste resources.

“Hindi ‘unli’ ang pera ng pamahalaan. Temporary licenses are a wasteful and unnecessary response to the problem. Masasayang lang ang milyon-milyong papel, ink, kuryente, at effort sa pag-print ng mga ito,” the lawmaker said.

“This is a call not only for the LTO, but for all card-issuing agencies as well. Kung kaya naman nang patunayan ng official receipt, huwag na tayo gumawa ng temporary card,” Lee stressed.

“Mas maigi pa na kumilos tayo agad para mapunan ang pangangailangan. ‘Winner Tayo Lahat’ kung makakatipid ang pamahalaan at makakaiwas sa ‘di mahalagang gastos, dahil magagamit ang pondo sa mas makabuluhang bagay na para sa kapakanan ng mamamayan,” said Lee.

The shortage in plastic license cards is expected to affect around 5.2 million motorists.

Lee also renewed his call to allocate a greater budget to the LTO so that it could address its license plate backlog.

During the deliberation for the 2023 budget, Lee urged Congress to grant the P6.8 billion the agency requested to produce license plates.

“Dahil ang problema natin sa plate numbers ay since 2014 pa, I also move na maibigay nang buo ang 6.8 billion na budget para matapos na ng LTO ang backlog sa plate numbers,” said Lee.