By Dean Aubrey Caratiquet
Following on the agency’s earlier feat of ending the 11-year license plate backlog, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) hired at least 20 more personnel in a move to speed up the plate distribution process.
Currently, a total of 52 people are handling the plate releases, and this translates to 8,000 to 10,000 outbound plates/day from the plate manufacturing plant and courier hub.
LTO Chief Assistant Secretary Vigor Mendoza II cited the addition of extra helping hands as valuable in raising the number of plate releases to anywhere from 13,000 to 15,000 per day.
Asec. Mendoza said, “Gaya ng ipinangako namin sa mga motorista at sa ating mga kababayan, gagawin namin ang lahat para maayos ang problemang ito. Tapos na ang backlog sa plaka, and we are exhausting all efforts to distribute all of them to the rightful owners in the soonest possible time.”
He added, “Patuloy nating pinapaganda ang sistema at patuloy din ang agresibo nating koordinasyon mula sa mga TODA (Tricycle Operators and Drivers Association) hanggang sa mga LGU (local government units) upang mapabilis ang distribution process.”
On August 13, the LTO chief led the distribution of plates in a mall at Mandaluyong City through a Plate Distribution Caravan mobilized by the LTO-NCR headed by Director Roque Verzosa III. This was followed by a similar event in Manila on August 14.
The said initiative was also launched by LTO regional directors and district office heads in their respective locales across the country.
LTO chief laments disinformation campaigns
Asec. Mendoza, meanwhile, lamented the rampant proliferation of fake news on social media, vowing to clamp down on those behind the spread of false information in the domestic cyberspace.
This, as the agency’s social media monitoring team maintains a constant watch on social media against viral photos and videos of erring motorists.
Asec. Mendoza said, “Madaming nagpapakalat ng maling impormasyon at ang malungkot nito ay marami silang nalolokong mga kababayan natin. Hindi po natin pinapansin ito noong una dahil mas may malaki tayong inaasikaso na matapos ang backlog sa mga plaka.”
He added, “The wrong information is being disseminated in the form of news or breaking news, and this could be the reason why a lot of our netizen kababayan are falling for these misinformation and disinformation campaigns. Kailangan na nating labanan ito.”
The LTO chief cited the latest example of a misinformation and disinformation drive was a Tiktok video claiming that the Online Drivers’ Licensing System is not working and four courier services of the agency have suspended their operations, which Mendoza debunked, pointing out that the misleading content only aims to undermine the credibility of the Philippine government and the agency.
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