MANILA, Philippines – Several piles of license plate sheets were stolen from the Quezon City central office of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) during the Holy Week break.
In a statement, LTO spokesperson Jason Salvador said the stolen plate sheets may be worth millions of pesos. An official of the LTO-Plates Plant division discovered the robbery Monday morning, March 28.
Salvador did not disclose details of how the theft occurred. LTO chief Robert Cabrera said the agency is seeking the help of Quezon City police and the National Bureau of Immigration to look into the incident.
“Ayaw nating mag-speculate, hayaan natin 'yung authority na gawin 'yung trabaho and wait for the result of the investigation saka tayo magbigay ng full details (We don't want to speculate. Let's allow the authorities to do their job, and wait for the result of the investigation before we reveal full details)," Cabrera said.
"Maraming security personnel sa loob at labas, at dalawang gates ang dinaanan ng mga suspects. Malinaw 'yung order ni [Assistant Secretary] Cabrera, whoever is behind the robbery would face the consequences,” he added.
(There were many security personnel inside and outside [the compound], and the suspects went through two gates. The order of Assistant Secretary Cabrera is clear, whoever is behind the robbery would face the consequences.)
Cabrera has appealed to the public to report instances of selling or trading of plates stolen from the LTO.
He warned that anybody found selling and buying the stolen sheets may face criminal charges for violation of the Anti-Fencing Act.
The theft is the latest issue faced by the controversy-hit agency, which has drawn flak in recent months over its P3.8-billion license plate standardization program.
Motorists complained about waiting months to receive their new license plates from the LTO. In February, some 600,000 license plates were abandoned at a Manila port, after the private importer failed to pay duties and taxes of about P40 million. – Rappler.com