Vigor Mendoza -NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
The Land Transportation Office (LTO) has ordered its regional offices to strictly enforce its “no registration, no travel” policy after its data showed that most vehicles operating across the country have documentation problems.
In a statement on Thursday, LTO Principal Deputy Secretary Vigor Mendoza said 24.7 million, or 65 percent, of the 38.3 million motor vehicles registered this year nationwide by the agency were considered “delinquent” – meaning that their owners either failed or deliberately refused to register their vehicles.
These numbers show that the LTO lost P37.15 billion this year in uncollected registration fees and penalties, Mendoza stated.
He added that there may be more damaged vehicles than the agency has so far determined.
But the numbers are already “troubling,” Mendoza said. It is possible that many damaged vehicles failed roadworthiness inspections and exhaust emission tests and are not covered by insurance, the LTO chief said.
Road traffic safety threats
“In other words, these motor vehicles pose a risk to road safety. We must implement land transportation regulations very rigorously, not only to be fair to law-abiding motor vehicle owners, but also for the well-being of road users,” Mendoza said.
“This is in line with the directive of our Secretary of Transportation Jaime Bautista to put more effort into ensuring the safety of all users of our roads,” he added.
Pursuant to Republic Act No. 4136 or the Land Transportation and Traffic Code, no motor vehicle may be used or operated on public roads unless it is registered.
LTO data shows that 20.15 million, or 81.5 percent, of all damaged vehicles are unregistered motorcycles.
This was followed by four-wheeled vehicles (4.01 million) and trucks and buses (around 490,000).
From NCR to Davao
The National Capital Region (NCR) still has the most damaged vehicles at 4.1 million, Mendoza said, citing his agency’s data. This was followed by 3.3 million in Central Luzon and 2.7 million in Calabarzon.
Western Visayas and CentraI Visayas each had about 1.8 million criminal vehicles, while Eastern Visayas had 758,000.
In Mindanao, the Davao region recorded the most criminal vehicles with 1.2 million, followed by the Soccsksargen region with 1.1 million, while Zamboanga Peninsula and Northern Mindanao each recorded 1 million illegal vehicles.
‘Duty’
Mendoza previously ordered a review of all LTO data after pointing to the need for his office to strengthen its revenue-generating activities.
He said the P37.15 billion lost by the LTO this year consisted of P15.5 billion in revenue losses from unregistered motorcycles, P18.4 billion from four-wheeled vehicles and P3.25 billion from trucks and buses.
Mendoza said the “no registration, no travel” policy should be rigorously implemented to discourage a further increase in the number of damaged vehicles.
“We must strictly enforce the law, not only because of the loss of government revenue, but also because it is a road safety issue,” the LTO chief said.
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“Every vehicle owner is obliged to register his vehicle. And we will ensure that all vehicle owners strictly comply with this obligation,” he added.
