Last week, Senate Blue Ribbon Committee chairman, Richard Gordon, demanded the resignation of top Land Transportation Office (LTO) officials for their alleged ineptness in implementing the law that he authored, RA 11235 or the doble plaka law.
Now, the senator is calling upon the motorcycle dealers, alleging that they might have a hand in delaying the implementation of doble plaka.
Sen. Gordon, named Des Marketing Inc., Des Strong Motors, Du Ek Sam Inc., and Premio Corp. as the motorcycle importers and dealers that should be probed during the committee’s hearing on Friday. All the dealers that he mentioned are part of the Du Ek Sam group.
According to the senator, he suspects that the motorcycle dealers that he mentioned are tied with some LTO officials, and therefore may have a hand in the delay of motorcycle number plate production.
Gordon said that these motorcycle dealers, instead of registering a motorcycle after it has been sold, hold the registration documents of customers buying via installment until the loan is fully paid. Motorcycle owners, on the other hand, were only issued invoices.
This system, Gordon said, allows the dealers to repossess the motorcycle unit in the event the owner fails to remit his monthly dues. Then the dealers sell the motorcycle again as a “demo unit”.
The Senator has not elaborated, however, how this alleged scheme inhibits the production and distribution of the new motorcycle plates.
With regard to the plates, LTO assistant secretary, Edgar Galvante, mentioned earlier that the agency was trying to catch up to the millions of number plates in backlog. The agency had already acquired plates compliant with the prior design (5 numbers, 2 letters) that were stamped and cut. However, due to the mandated new plate design of the doble plaka, including a stop order filed with the Supreme Court, they had to reset and start over again with a new design.
