Land Transportation and Traffic Code

Section 5

(a) 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 in accordance with the provisions of this Act. (b) The dates of annual registration of motor vehicles shall be based on a registration scheme to be prepared by the Bureau of Land Transportation subject to the approval of the Minister of Transportation and Communications. The scheme shall provide for a system that will distribute the registration of motor vehicles equitably over different months in a calendar year. Said scheme and rates shall not be changed more often than once every three (3) years, and only upon due notice given to the public at least ninety (90) calendar days before the effectivity of such registration scheme. Any registration of motor vehicles not renewed on or before the date fixed by the Bureau of Land Transportation shall become delinquent and invalid. (c) Dealers' reports — Dealers shall submit to the Director of Land Transportation a report concerning the sale or transfer of or any other transaction involving motor vehicles, including such information as importation, manufacturing data, and number of stocks remaining, as the Director may require for the effective enforcement of the provisions of this Act within five (5) working days from such sale, transfer or transaction. Such dealers shall furnish also the buyer with a duplicate copy thereof, duly authenticated by the Director of Land Transportation. (d) Unauthorized repair or change of engine serial number.—Unless satisfactorily explained to and approved by the Director of Land Transportation, no repair involving the restoration of the original or registered serial number as stamped on the engine shall be allowed. No change involving an alteration of or tampering with the original or registered engine serial number of a motor vehicle shall ever be allowed, and any motor vehicle with a trace of having its engine serial number altered or tampered with shall be refused registration or re-registration. (e) Encumbrances of motor vehicles — (as repealed by RA No 11057) Cancellation or foreclosure of such mortgages, attachments, and other encumbrances shall likewise be recorded, and in the absence of such cancellation, no certificate of registration shall be issued without the corresponding notation of mortgage, attachment and/or other encumbrances. Records of encumbrances of motor vehicles shall be kept by the Bureau of Land Transportation in chronological and/or alpha-numerical and/or any other sequence and shall contain, among other things, the time, date, number of the entry, and other cross-indexing entries for immediate data retrieval, in a 'Book of Motor Vehicle Encumbrances' referring to the creation, cancellation or foreclosure of the aforesaid mortgages, attachments or to other encumbrances. The Bureau of Land Transportation shall collect a fee of Fifty Pesos (P50.00) for every annotation of a mortgage, attachment and/or other encumbrances or cancellation thereof. (As amended by BP Blg 74)

Section 5-A

Amnesty for Delinquent Motor Vehicle Owners.—All motor vehicle owners, whose vehicles are not currently registered and who shall register said motor vehicles, under the rates prescribed herein, on or before December 31, 1984, shall not be subject to the penalties prescribed for the period of delinquency. (As added by PD No 1950)

Section 6

Applications and payments for registration shall be made either personally or by registered mail, and the date of the cancellation of the postage stamps of envelopes containing money order or check shall be taken as the date of the application and/or payment for registration: Provided, That the application is properly prepared and the payment for registration is sufficient as required by law.

Section 7

The classification of vehicles shall be: Private For Hire Government Diplomatic Within ninety days from the approval of this Act, appropriate subclassifications shall be determined by the Director of Land Transportation with the approval of the Minister of Transportation and Communications, taking into consideration the body configuration, weight, cubic displacement and/or number of cylinders of the motor vehicle. Private—Motor vehicles registered under this classification shall not be used for hire under any circumstance. For Hire—Motor vehicles registered under this classification are those covered by certificates of public convenience, or special permits issued by the Board of Transportation, and shall be subject to the provisions of the Public Service Act and the rules and regulations issued thereunder, as well as the provisions of this Act. Government—Motor vehicles owned by the government of the Philippines or any of its political subdivisions shall be registered under this classification. Diplomatic—Motor vehicles owned by foreign governments or by their duly accredited diplomatic officers in the Philippines and used in the discharge of their duties. Tourists bringing their own motor vehicles to the Philippines may, however, without registering such motor vehicles, use the same during but not after ninety (90) days of their sojourn: Provided, That the motor vehicle displays the number plates for the current year of some other country or state, and said number plates as well as the name and address (permanent and temporary) of the owner thereof are registered in the Bureau of Land Transportation prior to the operation of the motor vehicle. If such tourists remain in the Philippines longer than ninety (90) days, the motor vehicle shall not be operated unless registered in accordance with this Act and the corresponding registration fees paid. (As amended by PD No 1057, BP Blg 74)

Section 5-B

Period for Registering Transfers of Ownership of Motor Vehicles and Penalties. Transfers of ownership of motor vehicles shall be registered within seven (7) days after the execution of the Deed of Sale, the Sheriff's sale, or other documents transferring ownership of motor vehicles. In the event of failure to register the transfer of ownership of motor vehicles within the period prescribed herein there shall be added to the amount collectible a surcharge of fifty per cent (50%). (As added by PD No 1950)