Philippine plastic driver's license card inventory will not last until the end of the month. Philippine driver's license will only be available on A4 paper.

After the Philippine Land Transport Agency (LTO) office did not have a card to issue, the agency said it would issue a temporary paper driver's license and reserve the driver's license card for new applicants in priority.

Jose Arturo "Jay Art" Tugade, director of the Land Transport Department (LTO), said the agency had only about 140000 driver's license cards left in stock, which could only cover its one-month usage.

"We predict that all land transport offices will run out of inventory cards by the end of April, and some offices have begun to be unable to issue driver's license cards," said Tulgard."

He added: "When people come to the Land Transport Department for driver's license updates, they will get an A4 print of the driver's license invoice, and a copy of the so-called driver's license card will be printed on the back of the document, which will temporarily serve as a temporary driver's license for the people."

Tugard said the printed official receipt had a QR code on it that could be verified by traffic enforcement officers.

Asked why this was the case, the Administrator responded that the agency had been ordered to stop supply purchases earlier this year.

He said: "As early as December last year, the Land Transport Department was ready to purchase, but when this order request was issued in January, we were instructed to stop all procurement activities."

The official was referring to a special order issued by the Department of Transportation (DOTr) on January 12 this year, which stipulates that procurement activities worth more than 50 million pesos must be conducted through the central office.

The Philippine Ministry of Transport said that it will temporarily purchase the number of cards urgently needed by the Land Transport Agency until the Tender and Award Committee evaluates the terms of reference (TOR) submitted in March.

The Land Transport Department encountered a printing backlog last year due to a defective laser engraving machine.