LTO: Validity of licenses expiring in November 2023 to be extended until April 2024.

It's a subject we'd rather not revisit repeatedly, but it appears that the Land Transportation Office is once again facing a shortage of plastic cards for issuing driver's licenses. This development came after the LTO announced that they would be extending the validity of driver’s licenses expiring from November 2023.

On Thursday, the LTO declared an extension of the validity for driver's licenses expiring from November 2023 onwards, extending until April 2 next year. The renewal timeline for licenses expiring on April 1 to 30 is set by November 6 this year, for May 1 to 31 not later than November 30, and for June 1-30 not later than December 31, 2023.

If you may remember, the topic of plastic card shortages was once again getting in gear as the LTO engaged in discussion with AllCard Inc. This was because a court in Quezon City issued a preliminary injunction preventing the LTO from distributing plastic driver's licenses. 

To recap, AllCard contested its disqualification from the license card bidding process. Despite submitting the lowest bid of P176.8 million, well below the approved budget of P240.12 million set by the Department of Transportation’s (DOTr) Centralized Bids and Awards Committee, AllCard was disqualified. 

AllCard contends that the bids and awards committee engaged in a grave abuse of discretion, particularly when the DOTr granted the award to Banner Plastic Card, Inc. in June, even before the protest filing period had elapsed. A few months ago, in relation to the ongoing case, LTO Chief Vigor Mendoza urged AllCard to reconsider pursuing the case "for the sake of the Filipino people."

Fast forward to today, the LTO is compelled to once again extend the validity of expired driver's licenses, starting in November. Although the agency has not yet released specific details on which months are included in this extension, they confirm that it will be in effect until April 2024.

LTO Chief Attorney Vigor Mendoza II explained that they currently have only 1.1 to 1.2 million plastic cards available for driver's licenses. This quantity is only sufficient to address the backlogs up to June 2023, totaling around 800,000 licenses. Mendoza emphasized that the remaining cards are prioritized for renewal by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).