ILOILO City — Motorists using fake or unauthorized license plates have until the end of September to comply with government requirements or face a ₱5,000 fine and immediate vehicle impoundment when the Land Transportation Office (LTO) Region 6 launches strict enforcement on October 1.
LTO-6 Regional Director Atty. Gaudioso P. Geduspan II said the agency has deferred aggressive enforcement throughout September to give vehicle owners a final grace period to replace counterfeit plates, secure authorization for improvised plates, or locate their government-issued plates.
Instead of immediately impounding non-compliant vehicles, LTO-6 personnel will spend the remainder of September flagging them down and informing motorists about the requirements they must meet before the crackdown begins.
“Sige adlaw adlaw ang aton information drive until end of the month, before we implement the enforcement on October 1 until further orders,” Atty. Geduspan told Panay News in an interview.
“We are flagging down vehicles with unauthorized plates daily to guide owners on how to apply for authorization or obtain genuine replacements properly,” Geduspan explained.
The campaign is particularly targeting counterfeit license plates bought through online shopping platforms such as Shopee, some of which closely resemble government-issued plates and even carry fake QR codes.
Geduspan said scanning these counterfeit QR codes does not generate legitimate vehicle registration information.
“Kon improvised ang imo nga plate, kag makita ka namon nga wala authority gina direct ka namon to get an authority para maka-usar ka sang improvised plates. Kag kon makita naton nga fake ang imo nga plates, gina pa islan naton sang plaka nga may ngalan nga “improvised” or “lost” plate para it will not confuse the originality,” said Atty. Geduspan.
“Ang parehas bala sa mga nakita mo sa Shopee..mga QR code. Bisan i-scan mo ang QR code nga fake..waay ka da may makita or ma generate ya information about sa imo,” Atty. Geduspan added.
“Those are regarded as fake plates because even it appears as genuine, indi siya ang genuine plates nga gin issue sang opisina. Unlike sa mga improvised plates nga may ara gid nga naka butang nga “improvised” or “lost”,” he stressed.
LTO-6 said motorists found using unauthorized or counterfeit plates beginning October 1 face a ₱5,000 fine and immediate impoundment of their vehicles.
Temporary or improvised plates may be used only if the motorist has an official Authority to Use Improvised Plate issued by the processing LTO district office.
Legitimate temporary plates must also be clearly marked “IMPROVISED PLATE” or “LOST PLATE” to distinguish them from official government-issued license plates.
LTO had previously accommodated motorists using temporary plates because of delays in the production and distribution of official plates. Geduspan said the situation has changed because plate production is now up to date and the agency no longer has a backlog in cascading plates.
“Sang dati, sang una..may instances nga muna, pero we have to consider the fact nga sang una di pa complete ang plaka naton, ang production, kay ti subong, kay okay na ang production naton kag waay na ta gani backlog sa cascading plates,” he added.
LTO-6 urged vehicle and motorcycle owners who have not received their official plates to visit the nearest LTO district office and verify their status rather than continue using unauthorized replacements.
Motorists using improvised plates must likewise secure the required authorization before the October 1 enforcement deadline.
“If you do not have your physical license plate yet, you must make an active effort to locate it. Visit the nearest LTO office and inquire about its current status,” he said./PN
