Land Transportation Office (LTO) chief Vigor Mendoza II on Friday ordered all regional directors to ensure that the license plates of tricycles, particularly those used in public transportation, are delivered by 30 April 2025.

The directive followed an inventory of printed license plates, which revealed that the supply is sufficient to cover all tricycles nationwide. The primary challenge, Mendoza noted, is delivering these plates to their rightful owners.

Mendoza expressed confidence that the distribution would be completed, citing significant improvements in the license plate printing process since the previous year.

“This is part of our catch-up plan to distribute license plates. As we committed before, we are doing everything in our power to accelerate the printing process, and we are pleased to inform the public that we achieved this goal. The current challenge is distributing them to the owners,” Mendoza stated.

Mendoza instructed all LTO regional directors to draft and submit plans for distributing the license plates in their respective areas of responsibility.

The regional directors were given until 27 January to submit their distribution plans. These plans aim to guide implementation based on lessons from past experiences.

Mendoza emphasized the importance of coordination with local government units (LGUs) to ensure the program’s success.

“Ever since, LGUs have played a significant role in distributing license plates. Even barangay officials are always willing to assist. All we need is proper coordination,” Mendoza explained.

The distribution of tricycle license plates forms part of the LTO’s broader effort to address the backlog of motorcycle plates by July 2025. The backlog of license plates for four-wheel vehicles was already resolved as early as January 2024.

Mendoza also highlighted the importance of legitimate license plates for tricycles, stating that this initiative is a step toward resolving the issue of unregistered or “colorum” tricycles in towns and cities.

In Quezon City, for instance, Tricycle Operators and Drivers Associations (TODA) expressed gratitude to Mendoza after the backlog of license plates was addressed. The distribution was done in coordination with the Quezon City LGU.

TODA officials noted a significant improvement in daily earnings as colorum tricycles were eliminated.

“We want to replicate this good practice in Quezon City across the rest of the country. With the help of LGUs, we will not only address the backlog but also the problem of colorum tricycles,” Mendoza said.