LTO slashes license backlog by 45%

MANILA, Philippines – The Land Transportation Office (LTO) has issued 585,000 driver’s licenses since August, reducing its backlog by 45 percent, an official said yesterday.

LTO spokesman Jason Salvador said the original backlog was 1.3 million but the agency now has only 715,000 licenses to issue.

Salvador said the decrease was recorded after the agency started issuing driver’s licenses on Saturdays as well as on weekdays to cater to motorists who are only available on Saturdays.

Initially, the LTO offices open on Saturdays were the licensing offices in Quezon City, San Juan and Pasay and the district offices in Makati, Quezon, Marikina, Pasig, Valenzuela and Manila South.

The LTO later opened its extension offices in Caloocan, Las Piñas, Muntinlupa, Parañaque, Taguig, La Loma and Mandaluyong on Saturdays.  

The transportation agency recently faced public outraged anew after LTO chief Alfonso Tan Jr. and Transportation Secretary Joseph Abaya issued an administrative order requiring professional driver’s license applicants to submit clearances from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) before they can secure their license.

They suspended the order on Nov. 25 “in view of the non-availability of NBI offices in far-flung areas or island provinces.”  

 Prior to the administrative order, the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 49 ordered the LTO to stop its the P336-million driver’s license card deal with Allcard Plastics Philippines Inc.

The LTO, however, did not suspend the issuance of driver’s licenses despite the court’s order as it still had enough cards, Tan said.

He added that the court issued the order to compel the LTO to pay the supplier, not to put a halt to the producton of license cards.

Salvador believes the LTO has filed the necessary motions against the writ of preliminary injunction against the driver’s license deal. A hearing has been set in the first week of December.