QuestionsQuestions (EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 400)
EO No. 400 regulates the assignment and issuance of low-numbered/protocol license plates to specified high-ranking officials of the Republic of the Philippines, aiming to create a uniform system and prevent proliferation/exemptions that allowed use of such plates from unknown sources.
EO No. 400 cites that in 1978, then President Ferdinand E. Marcos issued Executive Order No. 505 revoking EO No. 287 (s. 1959) and EO No. 374 (s. 1960), which had assigned low-numbered/protocol plates to officials.
Section 1 lists: President/PANGULO—1; Vice President—2; Senate President—3; Speaker of the House—4; Chief Justice—5; Cabinet Secretary—6; Senator—7; Congressman—8; Associate Justices—9; Presiding Justice and other Justices of the Court of Appeals—10; Chairman of COMELEC—11; Cabinet Undersecretary—12; Solicitor General—13; AFP/PNP Chief of Staff—14; RTC Judges—16.
It also covers other officials with equivalent rank/position under Section 2, but their entitlement is subject to approval by the Secretary of the Department of Transportation and Communications upon recommendation of the Assistant Secretary of the Land Transportation Office.
The Assistant Secretary, Land Transportation Office recommends; then the Secretary of the Department of Transportation and Communications approves the entitlement for low-numbered/protocol plates.
As a general rule, not more than two (2) pairs may be assigned to any listed official for up to two vehicles, except for the President, Vice President, Senate President, Speaker, and Chief Justice who are exempt from this two-pair limit.
Senators and Congressmen may be assigned not more than four (4) pairs of low-numbered/protocol plates.
Plates are issued in pairs for motor vehicles duly registered in the name of the above-listed officials or to their respective spouses.
Assignment or transfer of low-numbered/protocol plates to unauthorized persons and/or to motor vehicles not covered/authorized, by government officials entitled to such plates.
Violation is sufficient cause for revocation of the privilege, confiscation of the protocol plates, and imposition of the corresponding penalty for the violation(s) as provided by existing laws.
The Assistant Secretary, Land Transportation Office, is authorized to promulgate the necessary regulatory measures to implement the Executive Order.
Orders, directives, and issuances inconsistent with EO No. 400 are deemed amended or modified accordingly.
It takes effect immediately upon issuance.
It identifies the controversy/proliferation that prompted the regulation and supports the EO’s objective of uniform assignment by linking specific low-numbered plates to specific official positions.
They must be approved by the Secretary of the Department of Transportation and Communications upon recommendation of the Assistant Secretary, Land Transportation Office.