The stocks of the plastic cards being used in the printing of driver’s license is already depleting, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) said on Thursday, Jan. 18.

Based on the latest inventory conducted, LTO chief Assistant Secretary Vigor D. Mendoza II said the stock is now only around 270,000 in various district offices across the country.

The monthly usage of plastic cards stands at 550,000 a month and Mendoza said the current stocks are only good for the next two weeks.

“There are only 270,000 plastic cards nationwide and there are already a lot of LTO) district offices that are already zeroing out of stock,” said Mendoza.

“But we are now initiating measures to address these, we have a lot of options and one of them is the agency-to-agency acquisition of license. We already asked them to submit quotations and we are talking about six million license cards,” he added.

Mendoza said the agency-to-agency acquisition is the fastest and most transparent way of obtaining the needed products or services and in the case of the LTO, in addressing the looming plastic card shortage anew.

He said quotations were already submitted to the LTO and all of them were already forwarded to the Department of Transportation for review and approval. 

If all the measures fail, there is a possibility that the expiration of the driver’s license will be extended anew due to the shortage of plastic cards. 

What happened to the 4M donation

Mendoza said the acceptance of the donation of four million pieces of plastic cards was deferred in order to clear the matters with possible legal issues.

The donation was made by the Philippine Society of Medicine for Drivers (PSMED) President Albert Alegre on Dec. 18, and was formalized by the signing of agreement at the agency’s Central Office in Quezon City.

Based on the deed of donation, the first batch of the plastic cards, composed of 300,000 pieces, is expected to be delivered in the first week of January, or after the LTO issues an authority to the supplier of the donor to use the design of the driver’s license.

The document also stipulated that 300,000 pieces will be delivered every 15 days after the first delivery is completed and 100,000 pieces for the last delivery until the four million pieces of plastic cards are completed.

The donation would have addressed the shortage and would provide the LTO sufficient stocks for 2024.

Currently, Mendoza said the LTO is waiting for the legal opinion of the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) in connection with the donation.

Still pending

Early this year, the LTO, through the DOTr, acquired around 5.2 million plastic cards in a bidding won by the Banner Plasticard Inc. 
 

Almost two million pieces have already been delivered but the completion of the delivery for the remaining 3.5 million pieces hit a snag after a losing bidder filed a case before a Quezon City court which issued an injunction on the delivery.

The case is still pending before the court and the LTO has already elevated it to the Court of Appeals through the OSG.