(UPDATE) TWO vehicles bearing the same plate number were registered with the Land Transportation Office (LTO) through its Land Transportation Management System (LTMS), the foreign-made information technology (IT) platform of the agency.

This was discovered when a vehicle owner from Cebu City was barred from renewing the registration of a Toyota Avanza with plate number NEU 1976.

The owner of the vehicle sought the assistance of the Highway Patrol Group-Central Visayas (HPG-7) after the LTO discovered in its database that another Toyota Avanza but with a different color carries the same plate number.

The two vehicles were apparently purchased from the same auto dealer in Cebu City. Both owners were able to register the vehicles with the LTO.

The owner of the second vehicle also learned that his plate number was registered with another vehicle when his application for an RFID sticker was denied.

Authorities suspect that one of the two vehicles must have been stolen and the double registration could be the work of a criminal syndicate.

LTO-7 Regional Director Victor Caindec vowed to cooperate in the investigation.

This is not the first time that the LTMS had inaccuracies in its database.

Last year, a vehicle owner was prohibited from renewing his driver's license due to a motorcycle violation reflected in his LTMS account. The complainant said he was surprised to see an unpaid motorcycle violation which occurred in 2018 in Iloilo. The driver claimed that he does not drive or own a motorcycle and had never been to Iloilo.

The LTMS is connected with the Private Motor Vehicle Inspection Centers that conducts a 70-point test for vehicles prior to renewal of registration.