(MANILA BULLETIN)
1-Rider Party-list Rep. Rodge Gutierrez has welcomed the Land Transportation Office's (LTO) decision to extend to three years the validity of the initial registration of new motorcycles with smaller engines. "Ipinagpapasalamat namin ang naging desisyong ito ng [LTO] dahil sa kabila ng napakarami nilang kinakaharap na suliranin sa kanilang tanggapan ay naiisip pa rin nila ang kapakanan ng mga nagmomotorsiklo sa bansa (We thank the LTO for this decision because, despite all the problems besetting the office, they still considered the welfare of motorcycle-ridiers in then country)," Gutierrez said. "This is welcome a development," added the rookie solon in the current 19th Congress. Based on Republic Act (RA) No.4136 and RA No.11032, only the motorcycles with an engine displacement of 201cc have a three-year registration validity with the LTO. The agency, through Memorandum Circular (MC) No. JMT-2023-2395, said that new motorcycles with engines of 200cc and below will now also have a three-year registration validity. “Marami sa aming mga ‘kagulong’ ang matutuwa sa hakbanging ito ng LTO dahil malaking tulong ito na mapagaan ang proseso at transaksiyon ng ating mga kababayan na hindi na kailangang magpabalik-balik pa sa naturang ahensiya para lamang magparehistro (A lot of our 'co-wheelers' will be delighted by this move from the LTO because it will simplify the process and our countrymen would no longer need to keep coming back to the agency to register)," Gutierrez said. He further said that he doesn't see any problem on the roadworthiness of new, but smaller motorcycles within a three-year period. He estimated that some two million riders will benefit from the directive.