Vehicle registration plates of the Philippines

The current version of the license plates measure 390 mm wide and 140 mm high, while current motorcycle plates measure 235 mm wide and 135 mm high. The characters are stamped on an aluminum plate, which is then painted with reflective paint. FE-Schrift was chosen as the font to be used on license plates in 2018 because the style of the font makes it difficult to modify the letters.[8]

After the release of the new plate number design in 2018, all virtual and temporary plates that were issued from July 2016 to December 2017 using the 2014 design were updated to 2018's alphabetical designation.[9][10] The first letter in the 2018 automobile plate number design represents the prefix, which denotes the region where the vehicle was registered. The letter S is used to indicate a government-owned vehicle.

The second letter on the number plate classifies whether the vehicle is a wheeled trailer or an automobile. Letter U in the second letter represents a Private Used Trailer, while Z represents a Public Used Trailer. Trailers registered from 2016 onwards currently use 6-Numbered temporary plates as trailer plates are not yet in production.

On the motorcycle license plates, U and Z represent private use for three-wheeled motorcycles, while V, W, X and Y represent public use in all types of motorcycles.

Motorcycle registration plates released in 2020 are color-coded to indicate the region where they are registered.

These plates are reserved for top government officials of the Republic of the Philippines, and have the same paint scheme as private vehicles.

• 1 – President
• 2 – Vice President
• 3 – President of the Senate
• 4 – Speaker of the House of Representatives
• 5 – Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
• 6 – Cabinet Secretaries
• 7 – Senators
• 8 – Representatives (Congressmen)
• 9 – Associate Justices of the Supreme Court
• 10 – Presiding Justice and other Justices of the Court of Appeals.
• 11 – Chairman, Commission on Elections
• 12 – Cabinet Undersecretary
• 13 – Solicitor-General
• 14 – Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Chief of the Philippine National Police
• 16 – Regional Trial Court Judges (e.g. 16*NCR)
• 17 – First Level Courts (Metropolitan Trial Court, Municipal Trial Court, Municipal Trial Court in Cities, and Shari'ah Circuit courts), added by Memorandum Order No. 297 signed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on March 2, 2009, for assistant city prosecutors, district prosecutors and chief city prosecutors. Stamped with initials of 17*ACP (court branch number).

A motorist who would like to have personalized plates can choose any letter combination upon three conditions:

1. It is unique i.e., the plate does not have a registered duplicate anywhere else in the Philippines.
2. The plate is not in the same format as those of government vehicles.
3. The motorist pays a PHP 25,000 ($500+) fee.

The plate number fees for these plates are:

1. P15,000 for three-letter, three-number OMVSP plate (except 000)
2. P25,000 for three-letter, two-number plate (except 00)
3. P35,000 for three-letter, four-number plate (except 0000)

[11][12][13][14]

The MV File Number for each vehicle has 15 digits, which are based on where the initial registration of the vehicle was carried out. (e.g. MV File # 1301-00000012345 registered in NCR).

The temporary plate number was later issued by LTO, which has 6 digits based on where the initial purchase location of the vehicle was and its use as a PUV. (e.g. 130123 for NCR use). It is widely used due to extensive backlog of vehicle plate distribution from 2016 to 2019.

Public utility vehicles registered from July 1, 2016, onwards currently use private plates (white), MV File Number or the 6-digit Temporary Plate Number since yellow plates are in production.

Government vehicles registered from 2020 onwards currently use private plates (white) but in February 2022 the red plates released by LTO.

The 1981 design was the most widely used plate number design, in production from 1981 to 2014. LTO issued the numbering format LLL-DDD for automobile vehicles, and LL-DDDD and DDDD-LL for motorcycles. Color-coded year stickers appeared in 1982, based on the license plate's color scheme. Stickers for vehicle classification appeared in the same year.

The first letter in the 1981 series of license plates represents the prefix, which denotes the following region where the vehicle was registered. The letter S is used to indicate a government-owned vehicle.

The letters I and O were not used in plates as the prefix to avoid confusion with the numbers 1 and 0. In 2009, they are displayed either in the middle or end, which is exclusively for private vehicles.

The letter Q was also used on regular plate circulation for motorcycles in public use. In 2009, it was used as a middle or last letter for NCR plates, while it was used as a last letter for Region 7 plates.

The second letter on the number plate classifies whether the vehicle is a wheeled trailer or an automobile. It is also used to classify whether the vehicle is private or public use. Letter U in the second letter represents a privately-used trailer, while Z represents a publicly-used trailer. Letters V, W, X and Y were used to indicate public utility vehicles

• Green on White: The most common type of registration plate, for privately owned vehicles. White background replaced by Jose Rizal Monument in 2003 for automobiles.
• Black on Yellow: Commercial vehicle or public utility vehicles
• Red on White: Government-owned vehicles. Color white replaced by Jose Rizal Monument in 2009 for automobiles.
• Blue on White: Vehicles in Diplomatic Use and Other Exempted Vehicles. Color white replaced by Jose Rizal Monument placed in left side in 2009 for automobiles.

• PILIPINAS ("Philippines", the most common inscription, in production 1981–1995, 2001–2003 for private and government vehicles, 2001–2014 for commercial and public utility vehicles)
• PHILIPPINES 2000 (1995–2000)
• ANGAT PINOY 2004 ("Rising Filipino 2004", in production 2000–2001)
• PILIPINAS - PERLAS NG SILANGAN ("Pearl of the Orient", in production 2002–2003)
• MATATAG NA REPUBLIKA ("Strong Republic", in production 2003 – April 12, 2014, for private, tourist and government vehicles)
• MC (used for private motorcycles, placed in top left)
• TC (used for motorcycles and tricycles in public use or for-hire, placed in top left)

• 
  Private vehicle license plate produced in 2006. Note the Jose Rizal Monument which replaced the white paint.
• 
  Tourist vehicle license plate from 2009
• 
  Plate number for government-owned vehicles, which was production until 2009.
• 
  Public utility vehicle license plate
• 
  Private Motorcycle License Plate. Note the MC inscription on top left side.