AGRI Party-list Rep. Wilbert T. Lee (Rep. Lee's office)

A neophyte congressman is prodding the Land Transportation Office (LTO) to give a one-year extension to the validity of drivers' licenses affected by the temporary restraining order (TRO) halting the agency from receiving 5.2 million plastic cards from Banner PlastiCard. 

“The affected drivers should not suffer because of this development. Hindi naman nila kasalanan ito (This is not their fault)," AGRI Party-list Rep. Wilbert T. Lee said in a statement over the weekend. 

"Automatically extending the validity of the driver’s license is the most rational and most practicable thing to do," he said. 

The Bicol lawmaker on Aug. 16 filed House Resolution (HR) No.1203, which urge the DOTr (Department of Transportation)-LTO to automatically extend the validity of driver’s licenses of those affected by the TRO. 

Since 2015, the government has reported delays and backlogs in the issuance of driver’s licenses due to legal cases involving the procurement of license cards. 

In an order dated Aug. 15, the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 215 issued a TRO against the LTO, effectively suspending the delivery of plastic license cards for 20 days. 

Banner PlastiCard was the winning bidder for the supply of the plastic cards. 

In HR No.1203, Lee pointed out that “despite the public paying their individual licenses, the government did not deliver". 

Aside from urging the DOTR and LTO to give an automatic 12-month extension for all expiring driver’s licenses of all qualified drivers, Lee also called on the agencies involved to address the issues in the procurement of license cards to prevent similar delays in the future. 

“This will give the DOTr and LTO ample time to resolve pending procurement issues or to study viable alternatives while avoiding further inconvenience to the public," he noted.