Poe tells DOTR: Resolve driver’s license card shortage
THE shortage in driver’s license plastic cards should be nipped in the bud before it could create another gargantuan backlog for the Land Transportation Office (LTO).
This was said by Senator Grace Poe yesterday adding issuing a license printed on paper is prone to wear and tear, tampering and could compromise the security of the holder.
“Isa ang driver’s license sa mga government-issued IDs na karaniwang ginagamit sa iba’t ibang transaksyon. Pera ng ating mga kababayan ang pinambayad d’yan. Bigyan naman natin sila ng tama at kagalang-galang na lisensya, hindi lang kapirasong papel.” Poe said.
Poe stressed that this matter should be taken seriously by the government insisting that this will create more problem if ignored by the proper authorities.
“In 2017, we pushed for the passage of the law extending the validity of driver’s license to five or 10 years to incentivize our drivers, cut red tape and give them an identification card they can conveniently use for official transactions.” she said.
“The inconvenience hounding our motorists due to the inavailability of the license cards defeats the purpose of the law. We expect the timely intervention of the Department of Transportation to end this shortage issue.” Poe added.
Earlier, the Land Transportation Office said they will be issuing temporary driver’s licenses printed on paper amid a shortage of plastic cards as announced by LTO Chief Jose Art Tugade.
Tugade said LTO offices nationwide are left with an inventory of 147,000 plastic driver’s license cards, which are expected to last before the end of the month which he further explained was the only thing left when he took over last November 2022.
He said the LTO would issue a printout of the official receipt (OR), which can be used as a temporary driver’s license with a unique QR code at the back of the paper license.
It was also reported that LTO has allocated funding of P240 million for the plastic cards of 5.2 million driver’s license holders but the bidding which will be handled by the DOTr must materialize first as part of the process and proper procedure.
The shortage of driver’s licenses is expected to persist until the end of this year.
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