“Implement now, plan later.”
This was the comment of Filipinos after the Land Transportation Office temporarily suspended the implementation of an order fining vehicle buyers and sellers who failed to register their transactions with the government immediately.
The government agency on Thursday, October 23, said that it is stopping the effectivity of LTO Administrative Order VDM-2024-046, or the “Guidelines in the immediate transfer of ownership of motor vehicles with existing registration,” immediately until further notice.
The LTO said it has come to such a decision “to clarify certain provisions,” “lengthen the compliance period,” and “allow more time to widen the information dissemination” about guidelines on the transfer of vehicle ownership.
The memorandum did not sit well with many Filipinos, who criticized the agency for issuing orders only to retract or scrap them later. Some also offered suggestions on what the LTO could do instead.
“Implement now, plan later,” a Facebook user commented, earning over 150 likes and reactions.
“Nakaka-bwisit, p*tragis ‘tong mga ‘to. Gumagawa ng ingay pero tayo ‘yung mapeperwisyo! ‘Di ba?! Parang t*nga, titirahin nila ‘yung alam nilang aangal tayo kasi apektado tayo, tapos babawiin lang na parang wala lang. Ang ingay ingay,” another Filipino commented.
“Dapat ang sunod nilang memo, guidelines ng pinadali na transfer of ownership. ‘Yung tipong kayang gawin ng bata. ‘Pag ganon ka-simple, edi sensible ‘yung pag multahin mo ng 20-40k [P20,000 to P40,000] ang hindi sumunod, eh ang dali-dali na lang eh?” the Reddit user added.
“Masydong hilaw ‘yung AO [Administrative Order], ganda sana ng layunin, bulok lang ‘yung pagpapatupad sa rules, dapat ‘di sya retroactive. Kawawa ‘yung mga 1st [first] owner na napag-pasa-pasahan na ‘yung unit [niya] and nalipasan na ng taon,” another Pinoy wrote.
“Magugulat na lang siya, may alarma lisensya niya tapos may penalty pa na 20k [P20,000]. Nagmumukha tuloy money-making venture ng LTO, tapos sasamantalahin pa ng mga buwitre [diyan],” he added.
Others argued that the agency needed to iron out some of its shortcomings as well, such as long waiting periods for license plates to be released.
“Wala pang plaka ‘yung motor, tapos magmumulta pa ng 20k [P20,000]… tindi, no? E kung 20k [P20,000] annually ‘yung multa niyo sa mga may-ari ng motor na wala pang plaka? E di, mas masaya sana,” a Filipino commented.
“Bigyan ng penalty din ang ahensya niyo dapat, puro na lang pahirap sa mamamayan. Sila nga, papel ang lisensya. Wala pa din plaka. Mataas na singil, etc. Dami na problema ng Pilipinas, dinadagdagan niyo pa!” another Facebook user said.
“Dapat daw mai-transfer ang ownership within 20 working days, kung hindi, bayad [P20,000]. Pero sa kanila, ‘pag ‘di nila na-issue plaka within 20 days, (P20,000 bayad sa owner ng motor, hahaha),” a different Pinoy wrote.
Reports said that the controversial LTO administrative order, dated Aug. 30, 2024, allows only 20 days to complete the sale, transfer, or donation of a second-hand vehicle, during which the new owner or seller must finalize the transfer of ownership process.
Failure to comply will result in the vehicle being placed on an “alarm tag,” hampering LTO transactions like registration and license renewal. The buyer will also be fined for P20,000.
Meanwhile, the seller must report the sale of the vehicle through an online submission within five days of the actual sale. If they fail to do so, they will be fined P20,000.
The process of transferring vehicle ownership involves visits and payments to different government agencies, which can take several days.
LTO executive director Greg Pua Jr. previously said that vehicle ownership transfer is important to avoid potential legal issues in case the second-hand vehicle gets involved in an accident following the sale or purchase.
“Kasi po, under our law, in case of accident po, ang liable po diyan is the registered owner,” he said in an interview before.
“Pero ang abala po na maisama ka sa isang demanda in case of accident, malaking abala na po iyan para po sa mga nagbenta ng sasakyan,” he added.