CEBU, Philippines — The Land Transportation Office (LTO) Mandaue City District Office and Licensing Center will be transferred to its new location on the third floor of J Centre Mall along V. Albano Street on Monday.
LTO-7 acting chief Alita Pulga made the announcement yesterday, a day after Mayor Gabriel Luis Quisumbing asked them to vacate the lot they occupied in Barangay Looc the soonest possible time.
The transfer would benefit the drivers because they will no longer be exposed to rain and heat of the sun while securing their licenses and vehicle registrations.
Quisumbing said the city did not give any timeline but he wants the LTO to abide by what they have earlier agreed.
It was in 2013 when the contract between LTO and Mandaue City for use of the land where the LTO is now located expired. The contract was not renewed despite negotiations.
It was also reported last year that the Mandaue LTO will be temporarily transferred to the Motor Vehicle Inspection Center in Barangay Subangdaku as its officials were still negotiating on three areas for a permanent site.
Pulga said the current location in Barangay Looc is no longer conducive because of the dilapidated roads and constant flooding.
Quisumbing opposed the transfer of the licensing center at the Motor Vehicle Inspection Center in Subangdaku because the volume of people expected to go there would contribute to the traffic congestion in the area.
Quisumbing earlier said he will speak with mall owners in the city for the possibility of giving LTO a space in their building.
In January this year, the Mandaue City Council passed a resolution allowing the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology to use the lot presently occupied by the LTO for the expansion of the adjacent Mandaue City Jail.
Mandaue Jail Warden Superintendent Renante Rubio said that the facility is now over 1,000 percent congested.
The jail currently has more than a thousand inmates when its capacity is only good for 119 inmates based on the United Nations standard of one inmate per 4.7 square meter space in a prison cell.
Mandaue City Jail has a lot area of 1,164.50 square meters with a floor area of 66.53 square meters, but the area comprising the holding cells is only 557.94 square meters. (FREEMAN)