If you’re a regular on our Facebook page, then you must know that readers frequently send us photos/videos of vehicles that sport fake license plates. Check here for clear examples.

To be honest, we sometimes ignore such submissions because, one, the problem is so rampant that we now doubt if calling it out is still beneficial to our community of responsible road users, and, two, we’re also so confused as to how to correctly tell which plates are legitimate and which ones are not. But then, if we turn our back on this calling—that of exposing irresponsible motorists who use fake plates—then we feel that we’ve failed people who continue to depend on us to separate the motoring wheat from the chaff.

So when we shared the above photo sent to us by a reader last Saturday, we were confident that we were calling out a mischievous car owner. Many followers agreed, assuming that the owner was a fan of the Mobile Legends video game.

Turned out, however, that the plate was a legitimate, registered vanity plate.

The owner shared the LTO certificate, showing that he had acquired it on May 30, 2011.

Not only that, the owner possesses other vanity plates that are paired with his other vehicles. He then educated us about the deal with vanity plates. Apparently, these special plates—the production of which is currently suspended (as far as we know)—are legit for life and are transferrable. Because they are now rare, their going rates have gone through the roof.

The owner was quick to point out that vanity plates do not exempt anyone from the number-coding policy. If so, why would anyone pay good money for these plates? The owner then led me to this link:

Some of the benefits that come with getting an LTO vanity license plate include:

• Better investment for personal or business branding
• Better expression of individual personality
• Unique character and look to your car
• Available to most private vehicle types

Um, okay.

Right now, the LTO supposedly allows the acquisition of the so-called Optional Motor Vehicle Special Plate. For P35,000, you can get your own choice of three-letter/four-number plate.

Anyway, we apologize to the vanity plate owner for assuming that his plate was fake. Then again, the fact that we’ve received several photos/videos of his car—this is not the first time we’ve seen it—should convince him that observers have the wrong impression of his special plate. Who can blame them? These days, it’s extremely hard to trust which is legal and which is illegal.