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Vehicle registration plates of the Philippines
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Vehicle registration plates in the Philippines, commonly known as license plates (Filipino: plaka), are issued and regulated by the Land Transportation Office (LTO), a government agency under the Department of Transportation (DOTr).
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History
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In January 2013, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) began a license plate standardization project by issuing plates with modern security features, including holograms and bar codes. They also planned to slowly phase out the old 1981 plate format. In the current format, the LTO issues LLL-DDDD plates (where L represents a letter and D represents a one-digit number) for four-wheel vehicles and DDD-LLL/L-DDD-LL plates for motorcycles.
In 2016, the LTO issued "virtual plates" as a temporary measure to address the backlog in physical license plates. New vehicles were issued a virtual identification consisting of a combination of alphanumeric symbols, which will make it easier for the LTO to release the permanent license plates once they were available.[1] In August 2017, the Department of Transportation selected the winning bidder under the government's "Moving Forward Program" to reduce the backlog of 3.4 million plates spanning from July 2016 to December 2017.
In January 2018, the Supreme Court ordered the release of license plates held due to restraining orders saddling the plate modernization program. It was expected that the distribution of new plates would commence at full swing by mid-February 2018. The machines were delivered to the LTO in February 2018 and were installed in a new plate making facility. The new license plates were released in July 2018 throughout the country. Under this new plate series, the first letter of the license plate will determine where the vehicle is registered. This is the same designation that was implemented during the 1981 series.[2]
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Current plate design specifications
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Plate number dimension and font style
The current version of the license plates measure 390 mm wide and 140 mm high, while current motorcycle plates released since 2020 measure 235 mm wide and 135 mm high. The characters are stamped on an aluminum plate, which is then painted with reflective paint. FE-Schrift was chosen as the font to be used on license plates in 2018 as the characters are designed to be difficult to modify.[3] Plates issued since 2018 have omitted the region code. Before 1981, the Philippines used the North American standard measuring 300 × 150 mm (12 × 6 inches) for cars and trucks.[4]
Registration area prefixes
After the release of the new plate number design in 2018, all virtual and temporary plates that were issued from July 2016 to December 2017 using the 2014 series design were updated to 2018's alphabetical designation.[5][6] The first letter in the 2018 automobile plate number design represents the prefix, which denotes the region where the vehicle was registered. The letter S is used to indicate a government-owned vehicle.
Vehicle classification by color scheme (2018 design)
Vehicle classification by second and third letter
The second letter on the number plate classifies special types of vehicles, such as trailers, electric, hybrid, and vintage vehicles.
Motorcycle classification by color strip and position
Motorcycle registration plates released since 2020 features color-coded strips to indicate the region where they are registered, in addition to the registration area prefixes.[7]
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Special plate number designs
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High-ranking government plates
Known officially as low-numbered (protocol) license plates, these are reserved for top government officials of the Republic of the Philippines, and have the same paint scheme as private vehicles.[8]
The official LTO website lists plate 16 for Regional Trial Court justices and plate 17 for first level courts, including Metropolitan Trial Courts, Municipal Trial Courts, Municipal Trial Courts in cities and Sha 'ria Circuit Courts for the use of assistant city prosecutors, district prosecutors and chief city prosecutors.
Associate justices of the Court of Appeals, Court of Tax Appeals and Sandiganbayan may also be allowed to use protocol plates upon the recommendation of the LTO and the approval of the DOTr.
Diplomatic plates
The new diplomatic license plate contains seven numeric characters that are in blue with a white background. These plates are assigned to foreign diplomats, members of diplomatic missions, and international organizations in the Philippines. In October 2022 the LTO and DFA released these new diplomatic plates replacing the older ones, however, the old diplomatic plates and other exempted vehicles (OEV) plates can be still used and they will only be valid up to September 2023.[9]
The first 3 digits of the plate will indicate the assigned number of the country, and international organizations that are based in the Philippines. For example; 003 0045 is an assigned number to Australia. The next 4 digits of the plate are randomized registration digits and are assigned by the LTO and DFA, however, the 1000 number will always be assigned and reserved for the ambassadors.
The list below are the assigned number of each countries and organizations on new diplomatic license plates. The orders of the list are based on when the diplomatic relations started.
Former head of state
A former president's vehicle bears the number 100 in blue letters.
Personalized plates
A motorist who would like to have personalized plates under the Optional Motor Vehicle Special Plate (OMVSP) can choose any letter combination upon these conditions:
- It is unique i.e., the plate does not have a registered duplicate anywhere else in the Philippines.
- The plate is not in the same with government plates.
- The motorist pays a minimum of ₱5,000 fee depending on the combinations.
- The plates may only be issued to private cars, sports utility vehicles (SUV), Asian utility vehicles (AUV), sports pick-ups, and commuter vans.[10]
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Temporary plate numbers
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Conduction stickers
The conduction stickers are temporary identification issued to vehicles in lieu of license plates while the official license plate are in production after it was implemented in 1983. Started in 1984, there are different digit and letter positions that have been produced over time.
Motor vehicle file number
The motor vehicle file number for each vehicle has 15 digits, which are based on where the initial registration of the vehicle was carried out. (e.g. MV file no. 1301-00000012345 registered in NCR).
LTO-authorized 6-digit temporary plate number
The temporary plate number was later issued by LTO, which has 6 digits based on where the initial purchase location of the vehicle was and its use as a PUV. (e.g. 130123 for NCR use). It is widely used due to extensive backlog of vehicle plate distribution from 2016 to 2019.
Public utility vehicles registered from July 1, 2016, onwards currently use private plates (white), MV File Number or the 6-digit Temporary Plate Number since yellow plates are still in production.
Government vehicles registered from 2020 onwards currently use private plates (white). In November 2021 the LTO have already released new red plates for government vehicles registered from 2016 to 2019. In 2024, the LTO released the new series of red plates for government vehicles which indicate the second letter as the region where they were registered (e.g. SNA for Metro Manila; SDA for Calabarzon).
In 2023, the LTO released green plates for hybrid and electric and white plates with indicating marks below for vintage Vehicles, then in 2025, Trailer plates was also released for Trailers registered from 2016 onwards.
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Former plate number designs still in use
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2014 series
Plate number design
The 2014 design, in production from 2014, used the numbering format LLL-DDDD for automobile vehicles, and LL-DDDDD for motorcycles. In this format, the region in which the vehicle is registered is stamped on the bottom of the plate, thereby removing the need for registration area prefixes (except for motorcycles).
The new plate format series and design was originally scheduled for release on September or October 2013.[16][17][18][19] However, it was delayed several times primarily due to concerns about the release of funds for the license plate project, as well as the increase in purchases of new cars using temporary license plates bearing the conduction sticker number.[20] Eventually, in May 2014, the first batch of new license plates was released.[21] By January 2015, vehicle owners using the 1981 series plates were required to pay ₱450 to change their old plates into a modern series plate.
Vehicle classification by color scheme (2014–2015 design)
1981 series
Plate number design
The font itself is not released electronically and to the public, the font itself was a modified or variant from Charles Wright font and others like NSW (New South Wales) registration plate lettering and numbering. This series along with its evolution under 1981 series halted production and switched to 2014 series as part of Plate Standardization Program.
The 1981 design was the most widely used plate number design, in production from 1981 to 2014. LTO issued the numbering format LLL-DDD for automobile vehicles, and LL-DDDD and DDDD-LL for motorcycles. Color-coded year stickers appeared in 1982, based on the license plate's color scheme. Stickers for vehicle classification appeared in the same year.
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The typeface features a curved and bold design on the glyphs (dies). Originally, it had a thinner stroke and does not feature curves like those ones during the issuance of the 1981 or 1988 plates in 2011. Motorcycle plates use DIN 1451 or D-DIN font.
It had been based from Charles Wright (for sizing and some modifications), New South Wales vehicle registration plate design (specifically the 1951-1980 version) and some older Philippine plates (for color coding per vehicle). It was then modified as an derivative from Charles Wright font and NSW plate dies and made all glyphs blocky.
In the debut of 1981 plates, they are originally border-less and also semi-bold plate number along with its diamond separator. In the late 1988 plates, they featured borders.
In 1994, "PILIPINAS" slogan was removed and replaced with "PHILIPPINES 2000" in modified/derivative DIN 1451 font before the year 2000 in the Philippines. However, 1988 series was still on production until in 2000s.
The 1988 series has an bolder plate number compared to the semi-bold and borderless 1981 series. Nevertheless, "PILIPINAS" slogan was too stroked and too arced like the letter "S" of "PILIPINAS".
In the Rizal Monument 2003 series, the plate number was small and its typeface was back to semi-bold version.
In 2014, the production of the Rizal Monument 2003 series was stopped, paving the way of 2014 series plates. However, 1981 plates is still in production; the 2010 series yellow plates. 2010 series yellow plate was eventually stopped production and continue production as 2014 series yellow plate. However, some plate shops offer the 2010 series, but this is not an exact duplicate or copy from the original plate.
Update changes issued by region
The license plates starting with W and Z that were initially issued for Metro Manila are now issued in Region 3 for motorcycles with a blue strip on top and Caraga Region for both motorcycle and motor vehicles, respectively. The I has now serifs and used in the middle or end of the letter block.
Meanwhile, the license plates starting with A are now issued for motorcycles registered in Ilocos Region, that were initially an initial letter for both motor vehicle plates across the country and motorcycle plates for Ilocos Region.
Registration area prefix
The first letter in the 1981 series of license plates represents the prefix, which denotes the following region where the vehicle was registered. The letter S is used to indicate a government-owned vehicle.
The letters I and O were not used in plates as the prefix to avoid confusion with the numbers 1 and 0. In 2009, they are displayed either in the middle or end, which is exclusively for private vehicles.
The letter Q was also used on regular plate circulation for motorcycles in public use. In 2009, it was used as a middle or last letter for NCR plates, while it was used as a last letter for Central Visayas plates.
Vehicle classification by second letter
The second letter on the number plate classifies whether the vehicle is a wheeled trailer or an automobile. It is also used to classify whether the vehicle is private or public use. Letter U in the second letter represents a privately used trailer, while Z represents a publicly used trailer. Letters V, W, X and Y were used to indicate public utility vehicles. On the motorcycle license plates, U and Z represent private use for three-wheeled motorcycles, while V, W, X and Y represent public use in all types of motorcycles.
Vehicle classification by paint scheme
- Green on White: The most common type of registration plate, for privately owned vehicles. White background replaced by Rizal Monument in 2002 for automobiles.
- Black on Yellow: Commercial vehicle or public utility vehicles
- Red on White: Government-owned vehicles. Color white replaced by Rizal Monument in 2003 for automobiles.
- Blue on White: Vehicles in Diplomatic Use and Other Exempted Vehicles. Color white replaced by Rizal Monument placed in left side in 2002 for automobiles.
Inscriptions
- PILIPINAS ("Philippines", the most common inscription, in production 1981–1995, 2001–2003 for private and government vehicles, 2001–2014 for commercial and public utility vehicles)
- PHILIPPINES 2000 (1995–2000)
- ANGAT PINOY 2004 ("Rising Filipino 2004", in production 2000–2001)
- PILIPINAS - PERLAS NG SILANGAN ("Pearl of the Orient", in production 2002)
- MATATAG NA REPUBLIKA ("Strong Republic", in production 2003 – April 12, 2014, for private, tourist and government vehicles)
- MC (used for private motorcycles, placed in top left)
- TC (used for motorcycles and tricycles in public use or for-hire, placed in top left)
Vehicle classification by color scheme (1981–2014 design)
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See also
- Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program, a road space rationing program used in Metro Manila and other urban areas based on the last digit of the vehicle's license plate.
References
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