The Cordillera office of the Land Transportation Office (LTO-CAR) urged owners of motor vehicles to immediately update the registration status of their respective vehicles to prevent possible confusion in the delivery of their license plates.
LTO-CAR regional director Francis Ray Almora stated that the backlog on the delivery of license plates is now being addressed following the delivery of the license plates to declared addresses.
However, he admitted that when the license plates arrive in their addresses, the motorists claim they are no longer the owners of the said motor vehicles to which the said plates are supposed to be attached which means that the said vehicles have already been transferred to another owner.
The LTO-CAR official stipulated that the position of the LTO is that for as long as the registration status of the motor vehicles had not been updated by the owners, it remains with the registered owner and that all correspondences related to the said vehicles will still be given to the registered owner.
According to him, registered owners of vehicles with delayed issuance of license plates are still the recipients of the plates and it is incumbent upon them to accept the plates for vehicles they have not reported transferred.
Director Almora pointed out that it is important for owners of motor vehicles to divulge the registration status of their vehicles once the ownership has been transferred so that it will be easier for the agency to ascertain to whom the pending license plates will be delivered once they arrive.
He said that because of the delayed delivery of the license plates of registered motor vehicles, the agency has been compelled to deliver the arriving license plates to the registered owners for them to attach the same to the vehicles to ensure that they possess the said vehicles.
He urged motorists to attach to their vehicles the license plates issued by the agency to avoid the imposition of stiffer penalties against them once they will be apprehended that might cause delays and inconveniences in their daily routine.
For motorcycles, Almora claimed that the law allows owners to register the same or update their registration records once transferred within 20 days upon the execution of the appropriate document stating the change in ownership status of the same.
He also rallied motor vehicle owners to ensure that their registration records with the agency are updated to ensure they will not be inconvenienced once the vehicles which have already been transferred to another owner will be involved in untoward incidents that might have compromised the safety of life and limb as they will be the ones responsible for charges that will be filed by aggrieved parties.
Almora said that owners should not take for granted the registration status of their motor vehicles so that their records will be safe from scrutiny once the said vehicles had already been transferred to another owner or the same might have been involved in untoward incidents posing a serious threat to life and limb.
