MANILA, Philippines — The Land Transportation Office (LTO) will soon offer driver’s licensure exams in other common languages in the Philippines, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said Tuesday.
Under Department Order 2020-003, which was signed by Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade on Feb. 14, the licensure exam will be available not only in English and Filipino but also other languages common in regions in the country.
The order will take effect 15 days after publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.
In a message to reporters, Transportation Goddes Hope Lilbiran said all major languages in the Philippines will be available but they will first roll out exams translated in Ilocano, Ilonggo, Bisaya, Tausug and Bicolano.
LTO Assistant Secretary Edgar Galvante said they will form teams to translate exams into different languages, which will be validated by linguistic experts.
DOTr said LTO’s regional offices are mandated to provide a translation of the licensure exam after 30 days starting from the effectivity of the directive.
Tugade said the directive aims to give consideration for examinees in Visayas and Mindanao who do not have Filipino as their first language.
“The written examination for driver’s license should not be limited to two languages — English and Filipino. What if they will conduct the test in Visayas and in Mindanao, and those poor countrymen of mine cannot understand Tagalog and cannot fully understand English?” Tugade said in a statement.
In the LTO website, the questionnaires in the written examination to apply for a driver’s license is only available in Filipino.