PANOORIN: Pamamahagi ng driver's license, sinimulan na ng LTO ngayong umaga | via @jeffreyhernaez pic.twitter.com/HDSxreJVsI

— DZMM TeleRadyo (@DZMMTeleRadyo) December 19, 2016

MANILA - The Land Transportation Office (LTO) on Monday finally started distributing plastic driver's license cards to drivers in Metro Manila.

Those who applied for or renewed their driver's license between January 1 and October 16 this year may claim their cards at LTO's 36 licensing offices in Metro Manila.

Each licensing center can process 800 cards a day while the LTO head office can release up to 1,600 cards daily, said LTO Assistant Secretary Edgar Galvante.

Galvante added that applicants should only present their official receipt and need not pay any fee.

License cards, kukuhanin lamang kung saan nag-apply o nag-renew; wala dagdag-bayad ayon kay LTO Chief Edgar Galvante | via @jeffreyhernaez pic.twitter.com/2li3feBYsd

— DZMM TeleRadyo (@DZMMTeleRadyo) December 19, 2016

"Isang paalala lang namin, kung saan sila nagpa-renew ng kanilang lisensya sila pumunta para i-retrieve. At isa pa, wala silang ibang babayarang sa license card, nabayaran na iyun. Ang ipapakita lang nila ay kanilang resibo," he said.

Priority for the release of cards will be given to overseas Filipino workers who will use their driver's license as a work requirement.

The shortage of license cards started in 2013 when the Commission on Audit disallowed payments to LTO's former card supplier, Amalgamated Motor Philippines Inc., for lack of a proper contract. This forced forced motorists to their receipts, stamped with a validity period, as temporary licenses.

The Metro Manila release of the cards will erase 700,000 of the LTO's 3 million backlog.

License cards in other regions will soon be available and is expected to be completed by February 2017.

-- Report from Jeff Hernaez, DZMM