Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino today lauded the signing of the law scrapping the controversial ‘doble plaka’ requirement for motorcycles.

“I reiterate what I said in February when the Senate ratified this measure, that this is a victory for the motorcycle riding community,” according to Tolentino, the principal sponsor and co-author of Republic Act (RA) 12209.

“I leave the Senate full of gratitude seeing this landmark law finally being signed for millions of our kababayans who rely on their motorcycle daily,” the senator stressed.

“This is another legacy of the 19th Congress for our people,” he added.

Aside from removing the double license plate mandate, RA 12209 reduces the excessive fines and penalties under the Motorcycle Crime Prevention Act (RA 11235).

The law also gives the Land Transport Office (LTO) until June 30, 2026 to close its backlog in the distribution of license plates, which had reached as high as 12 million.

To recall, it was Tolentino who first spoke out against the LTO’s controversial memorandum penalizing the use of temporary and improvised plates, as he blamed the agency’s backlog for the shortage in official license plates. The LTO eventually scrapped the policy in December last year.