Amendment to Land Transportation Code R.A. 4136

Legal basis and amendments made

Section 1 amends Sections 5, 7, and 8 of Republic Act No. 4136.
Section 2 automatically substitutes in Republic Act No. 4136 all references to “Land Transportation Commission” or “Commissioner” with “Bureau of Land Transportation” and/or “Director”, as the case may be.
Section 2 repeals all other sections or portions of Republic Act No. 4136 that are inconsistent with Batas Pambansa Blg. 74 and/or Executive Order No. 546.

Vehicle registration—compulsory coverage

All motor vehicles and trailers of any type used or operated on or upon any highway of the Philippines must be registered with the Bureau of Land Transportation for the current year.
Section 5(b) requires the Bureau of Land Transportation to prepare an annual registration date scheme distributed equitably over different months in a calendar year.
The registration scheme must be subject to approval of the Minister of Transportation and Communications.
The registration scheme shall not be changed more often than once every three (3) years, and only upon due notice to the public at least ninety (90) calendar days before effectivity.

Delinquency, invalidity, and renewal timing

Registration not renewed on or before the date fixed by the Bureau of Land Transportation becomes delinquent and invalid.

Dealer reporting obligations

Dealers must submit to the Director of Land Transportation a report on sale or transfer or any other transaction involving motor vehicles.
The dealer report must include importation, manufacturing data, and number of stocks remaining, and any other information the Director may require.
The dealer report must be submitted within five (5) working days from the sale, transfer, or transaction.
Dealers must furnish the buyer a duplicate copy of the report, duly authenticated by the Director of Land Transportation.

Restrictions on engine serial numbers

Unless satisfactorily explained to and approved by the Director of Land Transportation, no repair involving the restoration of the original or registered serial number stamped on the engine is allowed.
No change involving an alteration of or tampering with the original or registered engine serial number is allowed.
Any motor vehicle with a trace of having its engine serial number altered or tampered with must be refused registration or re-registration.

Recording encumbrances and registration consequences

Mortgages, attachments, and other encumbrances of motor vehicles must be recorded in the Bureau to be valid against third parties.
Voluntary transactions or voluntary encumbrances must likewise be properly recorded on the face of all outstanding copies of the motor vehicle’s certificates of registration.
Cancellation or foreclosure of such mortgages, attachments, and other encumbrances must also be recorded.
Without the corresponding notation of mortgage, attachment and/or other encumbrances, no certificate of registration shall be issued.

Motor Vehicle Encumbrances “Book” and access system

The Bureau must keep records of encumbrances in chronological and/or alpha-numerical and/or any other sequence.
The records must contain, among other things, the time, date, number of the entry, and other cross-indexing entries for immediate data retrieval.
Encumbrances are recorded in a “Book of Motor Vehicle Encumbrances” referring to the creation, cancellation or foreclosure, or other encumbrances.

Fees for encumbrance annotations

The Bureau of Land Transportation must collect a fee of P50.00 for every annotation of a mortgage, attachment and/or other encumbrances or cancellation thereof.

Vehicle registration classification system

Vehicle classification must be Private, For Hire, Government, and Diplomatic.
Within ninety days from the approval of Batas Pambansa Blg. 74, the Director of Land Transportation must determine appropriate subclassifications.
Subclassifications must be determined with the approval of the Minister of Transportation and Communications, based on body configuration, weight, cubic displacement and/or number of cylinders.

Private vehicles—prohibition on hire

Motor vehicles registered as Private must not be used for hire under any circumstance.

For Hire vehicles—public service compliance

Motor vehicles registered as For Hire are those covered by certificates of public convenience or special permits issued by the Board of Transportation.
For Hire vehicles must be subject to the Public Service Act and its implementing rules and regulations, and to the provisions of Republic Act No. 4136 as amended.

Government vehicles and diplomatic vehicles

Vehicles owned by the government of the Philippines or any of its political subdivisions must be registered under Government classification.
Vehicles owned by foreign governments or by their duly accredited diplomatic officers in the Philippines and used in the discharge of their duties must be registered under Diplomatic classification.

Tourist vehicles—temporary use without registration

Tourists bringing their own motor vehicles to the Philippines may, without registering, use the vehicles during but not after ninety (90) days of their sojourn.
The vehicle must display number plates for the current year of some other country or state.
The number plates, and the name and address (permanent and temporary) of the owner, must be registered in the Bureau of Land Transportation prior to operation.
If tourists remain beyond ninety (90) days, the motor vehicle must not be operated unless registered in accordance with Republic Act No. 4136 as amended, and the corresponding registration fees must be paid.

Registration fees—application requirement

Each application for registration must be accompanied by an annual registration fee, unless otherwise specifically provided in Republic Act No. 4136 as amended.
The fee schedule must be prepared by the Bureau of Land Transportation subject to the approval of the Minister of Transportation and Communications and in consultation with the Minister of Finance.
Fees in the schedule must be fixed based on model, body configuration, weight, cubic displacement, number of cylinders, and other relevant factors.
The fee schedule shall not be changed more often than once every three (3) years, and only upon due notice to the public at least ninety (90) calendar days before effectivity.

Fixed registration fees for 1981 onward

Beginning the calendar year 1981 and until changed pursuant to the fee-schedule rule, the registration fees are:
- Bantam Cars 0-1600 cc: Private—P300.00; For Hire—P450.00 (Gas), Private—P250.00; For Hire—P400.00 (Diesel).
- Light Cars 1601-2800 cc: Private—P600.00 (Gas); For Hire—P900.00 (Gas); Private—P550.00 (Diesel); For Hire—P800.00 (Diesel).
- Heavy Cars 2801-over: Private—P1,500.00 (Gas); For Hire—P2,500.00 (Gas); Private—P1,200.00 (Diesel); For Hire—P2,000.00 (Diesel).
- Trucks/Buses, including all types of utility vehicles (per 100 kg. of gross vehicle weight): Private—P20.00 (Gas); For Hire—P30.00 (Gas); Private—P12.00 (Diesel); For Hire—P15.00 (Diesel).
- Trailers (per 100 kg. of gross weight): Private—P10.00 (Gas); For Hire—P12.00 (Gas).
- Mopeds (0-49 cc): P60.00.
- Mopeds (50 cc-over):
  - Without sidecar: Private—P120.00; For Hire—P150.00.
  - With sidecar: Private—P150.00; For Hire—P240.00.

Special fee rules: government vehicles

Registration fees for vehicles owned by the government and its political subdivisions must be determined in consultation with the Minister of the Budget and within constraints imposed by available funds.

Recording fee for vehicles on private roads

All motor vehicles, regardless of type and/or classification, that are exclusively used and operated on private roads must be subject only to a recording fee of P100.00.
The Bureau must issue stickers in lieu of regular plates corresponding to the year of recording for these exclusively private-road vehicles.
These vehicles are not required to be physically brought to the office of the Bureau of Land Transportation for recording.
These vehicles are not required to be covered by compulsory vehicle insurance as required for registration purposes.

Manufacturer/assembler fee uniformity

For uniformity of registration fees and classification, all manufacturers and/or assemblers of motor vehicles must submit the specifications of a new model to the Bureau of Land Transportation prior to the introduction of the new model.
The Bureau must determine under which schedule of registration fees the new model should fall.

Transitory and administration rules

Subclassification rules must be determined within ninety days from the approval of Batas Pambansa Blg. 74.
Registration date schemes and fee schedules are both restricted from being changed more often than once every three (3) years and require public notice at least ninety (90) calendar days before effectivity.
The initial fee schedule for calendar year 1981 remains applicable until changed pursuant to the fee-schedule rule.