LTO: Over 700 breathalyzers from previous admin defective

MANILA, Philippines — The Land Transportation Office has inherited at least seven problems from the previous LTO administration after discovering 756 units of defective breathalyzers, LTO chief Vigor Mendoza II said over the weekend.

“Of the more than 700 breathalyzers, 288 are repairable,” Mendoza said.

“We are doing a market study on the cost of repair versus the cost of brand-new breathanalyzers. Sen. Raffy Tulfo said it is cheaper to buy brand-new equipment. So we are doing a comparison,” he added.

The breathalyzers were acquired in 2015 and 2017, Mendoza noted.

Aside from defective devices, Mendoza said the LTO inherited a backlog of nine million license plates and three infrastructure projects.

“I was given by President Marcos the catch-up mode of up to June 2025 to distribute all the license plates. We are down to nine million, from a high of 12 million,” he said.

“Of the three projects, we fixed the two and one is still floating. This is the motor vehicle recognition and enforcement system (MVRES). A big budget was allocated for this, but the system is not yet working,” Mendoza noted.

The MVRES aims to install cameras that can identify car owners by reading the radio frequency identification of the motor vehicles.

Meanwhile, car and motorcycle dealers who fail to distribute license plates could face fines of up to P1 million and suspension or revocation of their accreditation, Mendoza said.

“We have fined close to 200 dealers. Dealers are given 15 days to release the license plates from the time of the sale of vehicles,” he said.