LTO to Re-Open on May 13 in GCQ Areas

The Land Transportation Office (LTO) has announced the opening of its offices in areas covered by the General Community Quarantine (GCQ) starting next week.

In a public advisory, LTO offices located in low- or medium-risk areas for COVID-19 will re-open starting on Wednesday, May 13. With that, the 60-day window for renewal starts for people whose driver’s licenses and car registrations have expired.

That said, the LTO will be implementing strict health and safety guidelines including the practice of social distancing, mandatory wearing of face masks, and not allowing transactions of high-risk groups such as the elderly and pregnant women.

LTO Issues Preliminary Guidelines on Renewal of Expired Driver's Licenses, Registration

After announcing that driver’s licenses that expired during the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) are automatically extended by 60 calendar days after work resumption, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) has now released more guidelines covering the registration of motor vehicles.

In a Public Advisory, the LTO says that the validity of motor vehicle registration (except for new registrations) which expired on March 16, 2020 and until the date of work resumption will be automatically extended for 60 calendar days once work resumes at LTO offices.

To avoid congestion at LTO offices, a priority queuing will be implemented based on the last digit of the motor vehicle’s plate number. If no plate has been issued yet, the basis is the last digit of the conduction sticker (for cars) or the date of initial registration (for motorcycles, or vehicles with no issued conduction sticker):

For new registrations, no penalties will be collected for those vehicles purchased or with sales invoices from March 5, 2020 up to the date of the work resumption if the sale is reported within 15 calendar days once work resumes.

When it comes to driver’s licenses that expired from March 16, 2020, their validity is automatically extended for 60 days upon the resumption of work at LTO offices.

However, Temporary Operator’s Permits (TOPs) that expired on March 16, 2020 up to the date of work resumption will no longer authorize the driver to use the TOP as a temporary license. That said, the period from March 16, 2020 up to resumption of work shall not be counted in the computation of accessory penalties. The settlement/adjudication of apprehension cases for such TOPs, however, is automatically extended for thirty (30) calendar days upon resumption of work.

PETC Certificate of Emission Compliance (Smoke Emission Test) and Medical Certificates, which have not been submitted to LTO during the period from March 16, 2020 up to the work resumption but have expired during the same shall still be accepted within sixty (60) calendar days from work resumption.

Work resumption at LTO offices will be announced in a separate advisory following guidelines from the IATF.

LTO Extends Expired Driver's License, Car Registrations By 60 Days

The Land Transportation Office (LTO) has extended the validity of driver’s licenses that expired during the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) by 60 days or two (2) months which will commence upon the lifting of ECQ.

In addition, no penalties will be collected for the late registration of motor vehicles and renewal of driver’s licenses that expire within the duration of the ECQ.

LTO will also limit its transactions once the ECQ is lifted, to observe health protocols, such as social distancing, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Likewise, the agency will reduce personnel in counters, but to accommodate more applicants, the office is considering operating during Saturdays, and front liners will be the priority in the opening of the offices.

Applicants should process their registration before the end of the grace period, to avoid overcrowding at the offices on the day of the deadline.