Acting Transport Secretary Giovanni Lopez has ordered the revocation of protocol license plates to the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and its attached agencies to prevent the misuse and abuse of special government license plates.

In a memorandum released on Monday, October 13, the DOTr addressed concerned officials from all its attached and sectoral agencies regarding the revocation of authority for protocol license plates and the prohibition on the use of blinkers, sirens, and similar devices.

According to the DOTr, this is in response to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s directive to prevent government officials and employees from “indiscriminate and unwarranted use of special license plates” so that they can avoid traffic and possible apprehensions due to traffic violations.

The Land Transportation Office (LTO) is now taking the necessary coordination and measures to implement the said directive, the DOTr wrote. Moreover, the agency was instructed to review and clarify certain provisions of the Joint Administrative Order (KAO) 2024-001 and submit an updated inventory of all issued protocol license plates.

“Under the JAO No. 2024- 001, the issuance of low-numbered license plates or protocol license plates has been streamlined to prevent the unauthorized use and abuse of these license plates by ranking government officials and private citizens,” the DOTr said.

Under JAO 2024-001 and Executive Order (EO) No. 56, the following government officials are authorized to use protocol license plates:

“Nonetheless, all other officials with equivalent rank as above authorized officials may be allowed to use protocol plates, upon recommendation of the LTO, approval of the Secretary of DOTr, and based on the list of all officials with equivalent rank as above authorized officials of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM),” the memorandum read.

Meanwhile, in compliance with Administrative Order (AO) No. 18, all concerned officials are also prohibited from using sirens (wang wang), blinkers, and similar devices in their motor vehicles.