By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz
A senior member of the House of Representatives’ minority bloc on Saturday urged the Commission on Audit (COA) to investigate Land Transportation Office’s (LTO) questionable and anomalous P3.8-billion new vehicle plates program and its alleged abusive profiteering by tacking on a P100 surcharge “as service fees.”
Nationalist People’s Coalition Rep. Rodolfo Albano III of Isabela, also a member of the House committee on transportation, in a news statement, said the COA is also duty-bound to ensure that the millions of pesos in profits are untouched and not remitted to the national treasury because a refund to all vehicles victimized by the LTO could be imperative.
“It is not enough for the COA to order a stop to all payments to the LTO car plates supplier because it must look into other scandalous ‘milk and bilk’ tricks imposed by the LTO on helpless motor owners—from scooters and motorcycles, tricycle, jeepneys, trucks, buses and car owners—all over the country,” Albano said.
The lawmaker, citing a recent Senate hearing on the LTO’s new vehicle plates program, said the officials admitted that they tacked a P100 profit for every new car plate forcibly imposed on registered vehicles with usable car plates.
Albano said the P3.8 billion LTO contract with the car plate manufacturer, Power Plates Development Concepts Inc. and J. Knieriem BV Goes or JKG, “will be one big black mark on the Aquino administration if it is allowed to continue, and erring LTO officials tolerated to act with impunity.”
“The LTO is a government agency that renders public service. It is not a private corporation, whose mission is to render a service for profit,” Albano said.
Albano added that it is “abominable enough” that owners of registered vehicles, which only require renewal every year, were forced to purchase the new car plates, despite their having usable, serviceable car plates, “but to impose a profit surcharge of P100 per new car plate is unconscionable greed and grave abuse of power and authority.”
Earlier, the chairman of the House Committee on Metro Manila Development and Liberal Party Rep. Winston Castelo of Quezon City had said that the panel will recommend soon to the LTO to stop the mandatory replacement of car plates.
Castelo said the Department of Transportation and Communications and the LTO should stop the ongoing replacement of all motor vehicles license plates amid questionable replacement of old car plates and massive complaints from the motoring public.
Validity extension
AS soon as it resumes session late next month, the Senate will hear proposals to extend the validity of motor vehicle registration and driver’s license.
Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said resolutions will be filed and public hearings will be called to study the feasibility of extending the life of both car and driving permits.
“We will be crowd-sourcing ideas on how this can be done. We’ll be getting the views from all sides: from those who apply for these licenses to those who issue them,” Recto said.
At present, the registration of a brand-new motor vehicle is effective for three years, after which it must be renewed annually.
In the case of a driver’s license, it is valid for three years, with the expiry coinciding with the holder’s birthday.
Recto said senators “have taken cognizance of requests to have the legal life of these documents extended.”
“There is, for example, a proposal to increase the validity of the rehistro of a new car to at least four years, and old ones to two years. So we’d like to know if this can be stretched to five years for new cars,” he said.
With Recto Mercene
1 comment
In January I renewed my car sticker and had to pay for new plates. I paid the fee but still do not have the plates. Can I get my money back because of non-delivery?