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Back to paper: Court blocks procurement of plastic drivers' licenses

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ABS-CBN News

<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2852762" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><h3>LTO bares &#x27;Plan B&#x27; for license renewals</h3><p>MANILA<strong> (UPDATE) </strong>- It&#x27;s back to paper driver&#x27;s licenses for now after a local court issued a preliminary injunction to the government&#x27;s procurement of plastic cards for driver&#x27;s licenses.</p><p>Land Transportation Office chief Asec. Vigor Mendoza confirmed the issuance of the preliminary injunction, which would stop deliveries of the plastic cards.</p><p>&quot;Once effective, mahihinto ang supplier natin. Hindi na siya pwedeng magdeliver. Dati goodbye papel, eto welcome back although the injunction is not yet effective,&quot; he said in a TeleRadyo Serbisyo interview.</p><p>Petitioner AllCard Inc. earlier questioned the procurement contract awarded to Banner Plastic Card Inc., which submitted a bid of P219 million inclusive of taxes for procuring the license cards, higher than the P177-million bid of AllCard Inc. </p><p>A post-qualification evaluation disqualified AllCard due to &quot;delays&quot; in another project involving the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and other government agencies.</p><p>Mendoza said if the injunction goes into effect, the LTO will only be able to address the backlogs going back to April of this year. </p><p>&quot;Ang maaapektuhan &#x27;yung current usage, &#x27;yung dapat kasi nung Oktubre if you filed a icense in October you would get it automatically. Ngayon mapapahinto natin &#x27;yan dahil magkukulang tayo ng card,&quot; he said, adding he expects a 2-month delay.</p><div><strong>LTO&#x27;S &#x27;PLAN B&#x27;</strong></div><p>The LTO meanwhile said it was readying the following contingency measures. </p><p>The agency said it will ask the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to accelerate the bidding of the driver&#x27;s supply license cards for next year. </p><p>They may also seek the assistance of the National Printing Office to print the license cards temporarily.</p><p>“Ngayon pa lang, sisimulan na yung bidding process para sa ganoon derederetso po yan, short of making an award kasi di pa naman naa-approve ang 2024 budget… Next year, January, the moment ok na yung ating budget, pagdating ng January 2024, maa-award na po natin to the bidder na mananalo,&quot; Mendoza said.</p><p>It will also prioritize OFWs with the remaining available cards.</p><p>The LTO also plans to extend the validity of license cards once again until the supply problem is addressed. For non-OFWs or local applicants, the extended validity of the license cards will be stamped on the official receipt so as not to issue license papers.</p><p>“No choice. Kung talagang ma-implement itong preliminary injunction, but to go back to paper license,&quot; Mendoza said.</p><p>For a long-term solution, the agency is looking at institutionalizing the use of an Electronic Driver&#x27;s License or EDL. </p><p>However, LTO said there is a need to amend the law on the confiscation of licenses as this provision does not apply to electronic IDs. </p><p>There are still areas in the country that have slow or no internet connection, which will challenge the processing or downloading of the electronic ID. The EDLs will also only be applicable to local applicants.</p><div><strong>- With a report from Jacque Manabat, ABS-CBN News</strong></div><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/news/05/09/23/dict-lto-nagpaplanong-gumawa-ng-digital-drivers-license">DICT, LTO nagpaplanong gumawa ng digital driver&#x27;s license</a></li></ul><div> </div>

It's back to paper driver's licenses for now after a local court issued a preliminary injunction to the government’s procurement of plastic cards for driver’s license.