The Land Transportation Office (LTO) on Monday, July 17, announced that around 5,000 copies of driver’s license cards will arrive before the second State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. next week.
The Banner Plasticard, Inc. is expected to produce 15,000 to 30,000 cards daily within 10 days as part of its commitment to deliver 1 million cards in the next 60 days, Officer-in-Charge Assistant Secretary Hector Villacorta said during a press briefing.
“Just maybe 5,000 copies. The paper will surely out of date because the production of license cards will start with 15,000 to 30,000 plastic cards a day within ten days and the promise is within 60 days they can make 1 million plastic cards so the issue of lack of supply for plastic cards will be history,” he said.
Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and new driver's license applicants will receive the first batch of license cards, according to Villacorta.
“Actually ang nauuna is OFWs and Student Driver’s Permit that mature into Non-pro or Professional license (First to get are OFW and Student Driver’s Permit that mature into Non-pro or Professional license),” he said.
Villacorta said Banner Plasticard, Inc. can produce 15,000 to 30,000 cards daily.
“I’ve seen the factory here in Pasig and they showed me that they can do 15,000 to 30,000 copies everyday,” he said.
Meanwhile, the LTO official said driver’s license holders can now access their the electronic copies of licenses via the Land Transportation Management System (LTMS) Portal.
“Napa-aga ‘yung launch (It was launched early) because the IRR takes 15 days to take effect. But we just want to assure the public that things are getting back to normal and we have an additional form that is available, the virtual ID,” he said, saying that the virtual ID will be advantageous to OFWs, who may present the digital copy as proof of identification.
“Pwede rin ipakita ‘yung (They may present their) e-license so we would have a memo to all enforcers that that should be accepted,” said Villacorta.
Earlier, the LTO announced that the Department of Transportation has granted the winning bidder, Banner Plasticard, Inc., a contract for 5.2 million plastic cards.
It can be recalled that, in April, the LTO faced a shortage of plastic cards needed for driver's licenses. The agency even resorted to issue temporary licenses printed on mere piece of paper.