Plate Number Dimension and Font Style

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.^[3]

Registration Area Prefixes

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 series design were updated to 2018's alphabetical designation.^[4][5] 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.

Vehicle Classification by Color Scheme (2018 design)

Vehicle Classification by Second and Third Letter

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.

Motorcycle Classification by Color Strip and Position

Motorcycle registration plates released since 2020 features color-coded strips to indicate the region where they are registered, in addition to the registration area prefixes.^[6]

High-ranking government plates

These plates are reserved for top government officials of the Republic of the Philippines, and have the same paint scheme as private vehicles.^[7]

Diplomatic plates

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.^[8]

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.

More information The list of the assigned number of each country., Number ...

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	Canada	045	Venezuela	065	Ireland
006	Chile	026	India	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

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Former Head of State

A former president's vehicle bears the 100 in blue letters

Personalized plates

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 ^[9]

^{[10][11][12][13]}

Conduction Stickers

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

Motor Vehicle File Number

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).

LTO-Authorized 6-digit temporary plate number

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.

2014 Series

Vehicle Classification by Color Scheme (2014-2015 design)

1981 Series

Vehicle Classification by Color Scheme (1981-2014 design)