By Liezelle Soriano
MANILA — The Land Transportation Office (LTO) has on Monday (27 Nov 2023) disclosed that over 60 percent of the total number of vehicles — amounting to 14 million — are currently unregistered.
Assistant Secretary Vigor Mendoza of LTO emphasized that out of the 38 million vehicles, 14 million are yet to be registered.
Mendoza cited factors such as the ongoing pandemic and the prolonged non-use of some vehicles.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if some of them have been scrapped, especially motorcycles that may no longer be operational due to the passage of time. We will be excluding those from our numbers and ensuring data accuracy. Currently, these are the ones we are pursuing,” stated Mendoza.
The government is estimated to be losing between P37 billion to P38 billion this year due to the large number of unregistered vehicles, as mentioned by Mendoza.
“LTO’s target for this year is P31 billion. If we succeed, and considering the tight timeline at the end of the year, theoretically, it could mean an additional P37 billion,” added the official.
To address the issue of unregistered vehicles, LTO plans to implement stricter checkpoints as part of its proactive measures.
(ai/mnm)
