LTO appointment system set for driver’s license renewal in Cebu

An LTO employee shows some driver’s licenses that have yet to be distributed. (File Photo of the INQUIRER / NIÑO JESUS ORBETA)

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Good news to drivers who want to apply or renew their licenses, especially in Cebu.

The Land Transportation Office confirmed on Tuesday that they are planning to implement the courier service and LTO appointment system in Cebu in the first week of May.

LTO Assistant Secretary Vigor Mendoza II announced this in a news forum on Tuesday, prior to attending the opening of LTO-7’s new location of the licensing office at Piazza Elesia along Gov. M. Cuenco Ave. in Brgy. Talamban in Cebu City.

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“Kaysa pumunta pa sila sa district office, we will implement an LTO appointment system similar to what you have in [applying for] passport…tapos [ang delivery ng plastic cards] by courier nalang kung gusto ng aplikante na ipadala lang sa bahay nila, their choice of couriers, the same to the passports,” Mendoza said.

Courier services

Mendoza told CDN Digital that they are already starting to accredit the courier services, which are already familiar to the public, for this initiative.

“We’re in the process of accrediting these courier services tapos ‘yung LTO appointment system, meron po’ng online app po ‘yan. We want it SMS-based para sa gano’n, simpleng-simple lang kasi ‘yung dati namin may portal, magbubukas ka pa ng ganito masyadong complicated yata sa mga tao,” Mendoza said.

He said that the agency wants the applicants’ experience to not be complicated in using the app for the LTO appointment system which is being developed already.

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“The app is done. Ibi-briefing muna namin ‘yung aming mga staff para ‘yung tamang pamamaraan ng pagpapatupad ng appointment system, so that pag gusto niyong pumunta, pag appointment nyo, eksakto dapat. Dapat ikaw na dapat ang iniintindi sa oras na iyon. Kasi mahirap na may appointment ka tapos maghihintay ka pa ng isang oras,” Mendoza said.

Moreover, he said that as much as possible, he encouraged the applicants to not visit the district offices anymore since their online registration is also underway.

“In fact, for motor vehicle registration, we would move towards online registration na po ‘yan. Hindi niyo na kailangang pumunta sa district office para irehistro ang inyong sasakyan,” Mendoza said.

He added that this initiative was part of the directives from President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and DOTr Secretary Jaime Bautista to “digitalize” their frontline services.

Mendoza said that they would also want to tie up with the local government units (LGUs) in Cebu, just like what they did in Luzon, where they utilized the distribution system that the LGUs had set up during the pandemic.

Preparation is underway

Furthermore, the Assistant Secretary confirmed that part of their preparation for the online app is the possible glitches. But he assured the public that they are ready when that happens

He said that “there is no such thing as a perfect system” that despite how much preparation was put into that system to work, problems would occur. That was also the reason why he visited Cebu to discuss with their regional offices for its implementation.

“Yun ang inaayos na namin ‘yung actual implementation. Do’n sa glitch naman do’n sa app, kaya nagtagal ‘to, it took us a couple of months to put together kasi ang raming debugging na kailangang gawin,” Mendoza added.

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As of April 23, there were 404,000 license cards delivered to the agency and they are expecting another 1.2 million next week.

“We have more than enough. At least as far as the supply side is concerned, na-project na po namin hanggang end of the year and early next year. Huwag na tayong bumalik sa paper licenses, dito na tayo sa plastic cards,” said Mendoza.

He said that in coordination with the Department of Transportation (DOTr), the LTO was able to address problems circulating the plastic cards.