There are 8.5 million registered motorcycles in the Philippines, with millions more unregistered, the Land Transportation Office chief said Wednesday.

LTO chief Asec. Vigor Mendoza said many delinquent motorcycle owners either forget to renew their registrations or fail to transfer ownership after purchasing the vehicle.

"Marami na 'yang [8.5 million registered] pero mas higit pa diyan ang motorsiklo sa daan. Marami diyan hindi registered up to date. Mahina ang doble [sa unregistered motorcycles], we are looking at 16-17 million. Concentration ay sa [National Capital Region], Region 3 and Region 4," he said in a TeleRadyo Serbisyo interview.

He noted that as far back as 2003, there were 38 million 4-wheeled vehicles and motorcycles on the road but only 13.9 million were registered, according to LTO data.

"Majority of vehicles on the road are not registered," he said.

Mendoza said some motorcycle owners fail to register their vehicles especially if they are in a 3 to 5-year payment plan. Law enforcers should go after these unregistered motorcycles, he said.

He warned that failure to transfer ownership of vehicles could cause problems if the vehicle is involved in an accident. "Ang registered owner ang liable," he said.