Vehicle registration plates of the Philippines

Vehicle license plates in the Philippines are issued and regulated by the Land Transportation Office, a government agency under the Department of Transportation (DOTr).

History

In January 2013, the Land Transportation Office 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]

Current plate design specifications

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]

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.^[4][5] 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)

Pattern	Color	Class	Description	Image
PBC 1234 123PBC P123BC	Black text on White background	Private Vehicles	Private vehicles, not for commercial use
PBC 1234 123PBC P123BC	Black text on Yellow background	Public utility vehicles	Public utility vehicles and other for-hire vehicles (eg; Commercial trucks, public transport buses, taxis & jeepneys.)
SBC 1234 123SBC S123BC	Red text on White background	Government vehicles	Vehicles for official government use (eg; police cars, ambulances, and fire trucks).
000 0000	Blue text on White background	Diplomatic Vehicles	Vehicles in diplomatic use 7 digit new diplomatic license plate with blue numbers on a white background. The first 3 digits of the plate will indicate the assigned number of the country, diplomatic missions, consular missions, and international organization.

Vehicle Classification by Second and Third Letter

The second letter on the number plate classifies the type of vehicle. Letter U in the second letter represents a Private Used Trailer, while Z represents a Public Used Trailer. Trailers registered from 2016 onwards currently use 6-Numbered temporary plates as trailer plates are not yet in production.

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.^[6]

Strip Colour	Strip Position	Region	Image
None	-	National Capital Region (NCR)
Pink	Top	Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR)
	Bottom	Region 13 (Caraga)
Green	Top	Region 1 (Ilocos Region)
	Bottom	Region 8 (Eastern Visayas)
Gray	Top	Region 5 (Bicol Region)
	Bottom	Region 10 (Northern Mindanao)
Blue	Top	Region 3 (Central Luzon)
	Bottom	Region 11 (Davao Region)
Purple	Top	Region 4A (CALABARZON)
	Bottom	Region 6 (Western Visayas)
Orange	Top	Region 4B (MIMAROPA)
	Bottom	Region 7 (Central Visayas)
Red	Top	Region 2 (Cagayan Valley)
	Bottom	Region 9 (Zamboanga Peninsula)
Brown	Bottom	Region 12 (SOCCSKSARGEN)

Special plate number designs

High-ranking government plates

These plates are reserved for top government officials of the Republic of the Philippines, and have the same paint scheme as private vehicles.^[7]

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.^[8]

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.

The list of the assigned number of each country.
Number	Country	Number	Country	Number	Country	Number	Country
001	Vatican City	021	Turkey	041	European Union	061	United Arab Emirates
002	Egypt	022	Thailand	042	Sovereign Military Order of Malta	062	Oman
003	Australia	023	Pakistan	043	Malaysia	063	Qatar
004	Belgium	024	Iran	044	New Zealand	064	Brunei
005	Brazil	025	Canada	045	Venezuela	065	Ireland
006	Chile	026	India	046	Singapore	066	South Africa
007	Switzerland	027	Greece	047	Saudi Arabia	067	Palau
008	United Kingdom	028	Netherlands	048	Bangladesh	068	Angola
009	United States	029	Mexico	049	Romania	069	Timor-Leste
010	Colombia	030	Germany	050	Panama	070	Bahrain
011	Denmark	031	Laos	051	Hungary
012	Austria	032	Finland	052	Czech Republic
013	Sweden	033	Japan	053	Iraq
014	Spain	034	Myanmar	054	China
015	France	035	Israel	055	Morocco
016	Italy	036	Cambodia	056	Papua New Guinea
017	Argentina	037	Palestine	057	Russia
018	Norway	038	Sri Lanka	058	Vietnam
019	Indonesia	039	Nigeria	059	Libya
020	South Korea	040	Poland	060	Kuwait

Former Head of State

A former president's vehicle bears the 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:

1. It is unique i.e., the plate does not have a registered duplicate anywhere else in the Philippines.
2. The plate is not in the same with government plates.
3. The motorist pays a minimum of PHP 15,000 ($300+) fee depending on the combinations.
4. The plates may only be issued to private cars, Sports Utility Vehicles (SUV), Asian Utility Vehicles (AUV), Sports Pick-ups, and Commuter Vans ^[9]

Combination	Fee	Image
Three-letter, two-number plate (except 00)	P25,000
Three-letter, three-number plate (except 000)	P15,000
Three-letter, four-number plate (except 0000)	P35,000

^{[10][11][12][13]}

Temporary plate numbers

Conduction Stickers

The conduction stickers are temporary identification issued to vehicles in lieu of license plates while the official license plate are in production.

Motor Vehicle File Number

The MV 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 # 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 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.

Former plate number designs still in use

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.^{[14][15][16][17]} 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.^[18] Eventually, in May 2014, the first batch of new license plates was released.^[19] By January 2015, vehicle owners using the 1981 series plates were required to pay PHP 450 to change their old plates into a modern series plate.

Vehicle Classification by Color Scheme (2014-2015 design)

Pattern	Color	Class	Description	Image
ABC 1234 AB 12345	Black text on White background	Private Vehicles	Private vehicles, not for commercial use
ABC 1234 AB 12345	Black text on Yellow background	Public utility vehicles	Public utility vehicles and other for-hire vehicles (eg; Commercial trucks, public transport buses, taxis & jeepneys.)
SBC 1234 SA 12345	Red text on White background	Government vehicles	Vehicles for official government use (eg; police cars, ambulances, and fire trucks).
00000	Blue text on White background	Diplomatic vehicles	Vehicles in diplomatic use 4 digit diplomatic license plates with blue numbers on a white background are in embassy use. 5 digit diplomatic license plates with black numbers on a blue background are in diplomat use.

1981 Series

Plate number design

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.

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 Region 7 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 2003 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 2003 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)

Pattern	Color	Class	Description	Image
ABC 123 AB 1234 (Motorcycles) 1234 AB (Motorcycles)	Green text on White background (1981-2002); White text on Green background (rear only from 1988-1995); Green text on Rizal monument background (2002-2014)	Private vehicles	Private vehicles, not for commercial use
PVA 123 PV 1234 (Motorcycles) 1234 PV (Motorcycles)	Black text on Yellow background (1981-1992; 1995-2014); Yellow text on Black background (1992-1995)	Public utility vehicles	Public utility vehicles and other for-hire vehicles (eg; Commercial trucks, public transport buses, taxis & jeepneys.
SBC 123 SB 1234 (Motorcycles) 1234 SB (Motorcycles)	Red text on White background (1981-2003); White text on Red background (rear only from 1989-1995); Red text on Rizal monument background (2002-2014)	Government vehicles	Vehicles for official government use (eg; police cars, ambulances, and fire trucks).
1000 10000	Blue text on White background (1981-1989; 1995-2003); White text on Blue background (1989-1995); Blue text on Rizal Monument background (2003-2014)	Diplomatic vehicles	Vehicles in diplomatic use 4 digit diplomatic license plates with blue numbers on a white background are in embassy use. 5 digit diplomatic license plates with black numbers on a blue background are in diplomat use.
GOB 123	Red text on Yellow background (1981-2014); Yellow text on Red background (rear only from 1989-1995)	Official bus	Buses for official government use

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