This was announced by Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade at the Manila Bulletin “Hot Seat” Thursday.
Tugade said they are releasing the five-year-valid license cards to three million drivers who applied for new and renewed identification cards since October 17 last year.
The Land Transportation Office (LTO) said the agency is now in the process of printing the cards that are made more durable from polycarbonate plastic and have improved security features.
The agency on April 3 has awarded the P830-million procurement of the five-year license cards to the DERMALOG Identification Systems-CFP Strategic Transaction advisors-NEXTIX Inc. consortium to supply six million ID cards.
The supply would suffice demands for driver’s license until 2018, said the LTO.
The LTO also has completed the distribution of the three-million license cards that are valid for three years, a backlog which stemmed from the suspension of its contract with previous supplier Allcard Plastics Philippines, Inc. in 2015.
When the LTO starts distributing the cards with extended validity, new drivers and applicants for renewal of license cards can claim their IDs over the LTO counters.
Tugade said they are also mulling over setting up online applications for drivers without records of violations or citations.
Meanwhile, the transportation chief remained optimistic that they would be able to address the shortage in car plates which has now reached 7.1 million.
Of the backlog, more than 3.8 million are for motorcycle plates, while the rest are for motor vehicles, LTO records obtained by the Manila Bulletin showed.
The shortage in the license plates started in 2015 when the Commission on Audit issued a notice of disallowance against the LTO’s five-year contract with Power Plates Dev’t Concept and Dutch company Knieriem BV Goes.
Tugade said they are working on improving the security features of the car plates to be issued. Pending the bidding process, he said he would prefer to enter in an agreement with a different company.
Read Here: https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/06/23/lto-starts-releasing-5-year-valid-drivers-licenses-by-august/
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