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 released since 2020 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 as the characters are designed to be difficult to modify.[9]

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.[10][11] 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 the type of vehicle. 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.[12]

Motorcycle registration plates released since 2020 are color-coded to indicate the region where they are registered, in addition to the registration area prefixes.[13]

Strip Colour	Strip Position	Region	Image
None	-	National Capital Region (NCR)
Pink	Top	Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR)
	Bottom	Region 13 (Caraga)
Green	Top	Region 1 (Ilocos Region)
	Bottom	Region 8 (Eastern Visayas)
Gray	Top	Region 5 (Bicol Region)
	Bottom	Region 10 (Northern Mindanao)
Blue	Top	Region 3 (Central Luzon)
	Bottom	Region 11 (Davao Region)
Purple	Top	Region 4A (CALABARZON)
	Bottom	Region 6 (Western Visayas)
Orange	Top	Region 4B (MIMAROPA)
	Bottom	Region 7 (Central Visayas)
Red	Top	Region 2 (Cagayan Valley)
	Bottom	Region 9 (Zamboanga Peninsula)
Brown	Bottom	Region 12 (SOCCSKSARGEN)

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

An example design of the new current diplomatic plates since 2022.[14]

The new diplomatic license plate contains seven numeric characters that are in blue with a white background. These plates are assigned to foreign diplomats, members of diplomatic missions, and international organizations in the Philippines. In October 2022 the LTO and DFA released these new diplomatic plates replacing the older ones, however, the old diplomatic plates and other exempted vehicles (OEV) plates can be still used and they will only be valid up to September 2023.[14]

The first 3 digits of the plate will indicate the assigned number of the country, and international organizations that are based in the Philippines. For example; 003 0045 is an assigned number to Australia. The next 4 digits of the plate are randomized registration digits and are assigned by the LTO and DFA, however, the 1000 number will always be assigned and reserved for the ambassadors.

The list below are the assigned number of each countries and organizations on new diplomatic license plates. The orders of the list are based on when the diplomatic relations started.

The list of the assigned number of each country.
Number	Country	Number	Country	Number	Country	Number	Country
001	Vatican City	021	Turkey	041	European Union	061	United Arab Emirates
002	Egypt	022	Thailand	042	Sovereign Military Order of Malta	062	Oman
003	Australia	023	Pakistan	043	Malaysia	063	Qatar
004	Belgium	024	Iran	044	New Zealand	064	Brunei
005	Brazil	025	India	045	Venezuela	065	Ireland
006	Chile	026	Canada	046	Singapore	066	South Africa
007	Switzerland	027	Greece	047	Saudi Arabia	067	Palau
008	United Kingdom	028	Netherlands	048	Bangladesh	068	Angola
009	United States	029	Mexico	049	Romania	069	Timor-Leste
010	Colombia	030	Germany	050	Panama	070	Bahrain
011	Denmark	031	Laos	051	Hungary
012	Austria	032	Finland	052	Czech Republic
013	Sweden	033	Japan	053	Iraq
014	Spain	034	Myanmar	054	China
015	France	035	Israel	055	Morocco
016	Italy	036	Cambodia	056	Papua New Guinea
017	Argentina	037	Palestine	057	Russia
018	Norway	038	Sri Lanka	058	Vietnam
019	Indonesia	039	Nigeria	059	Libya
020	South Korea	040	Poland	060	Kuwait

A motorist who would like to have personalized plates under the Optional Motor Vehicle Special Plate (OMVSP) can choose any letter combination upon these 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 with government plates.
3. The motorist pays a minimum of PHP 15,000 ($300+) fee depending on the combinations.
4. The plates may only be issued to private cars, Sports Utility Vehicles (SUV), Asian Utility Vehicles (AUV), Sports Pick-ups, and Commuter Vans [15]

Combination	Fee	Image
Three-letter, two-number plate (except 00)	P25,000
Three-letter, three-number plate (except 000)	P15,000
Three-letter, four-number plate (except 0000)	P35,000

[16][17][18][19]

The conduction stickers are temporary identification issued to vehicles in lieu of license plates while the official license plate are in production.

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). In November 2021 the LTO have already released new red plates for government vehicles registered from 2016 to 2019.

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 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 Rizal Monument in 2009 for automobiles.
• Blue on White: Vehicles in Diplomatic Use and Other Exempted Vehicles. Color white replaced by 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)