The Land Transportation Office (LTO) on Thursday, Nov. 16, announced its strict implementation of the “no registration, no travel” policy after losing over P37 billion in revenue from delinquent motorists who failed to register their motor vehicles.

The agency’s data showed that 24.7 million motor vehicles in the country were tagged as delinquent for failing or intentionally refusing to have their motor vehicles registered.

“Yung included sa report na ito ng delinquent motor vehicles ay yung mga sasakyan na based sa aming record ay more than one year ng hindi nare-renew ang registration. Hindi pa kasama dito yung mga less than a year na hindi naka-renew ng registration,” LTO chief Vigor Mendoza said in a statement.

Mendoza said the data was “alarming” since their assessment showed that delinquent motor vehicles have issues passing roadworthiness inspections and do not have insurance coverage.

“[T]hese motor vehicles are threats to road safety. We have to be very strict in implementing the laws on land transportation not only to make it fair to the law-abiding motor vehicle owners but also for the welfare of the road users,” Mendoza said.

The LTO chief added that the policy was in accordance with Department of Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista’s directive to employ more effort in keeping the roads safe for the public.

Mendoza underscored that the policy was also directed to compel motor vehicle owners to register their vehicles.

“Hindi natin papayagan ito. May obligasyon ang bawat vehicle owners na i-rehistro ang kanilang mga sasakyan at ang tututukan natin ngayon ay ang strict compliance sa obligasyong ito,” he said.