DOTr questioned over new ‘moneymaking’ scheme at LTO

Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto. File photo / Senate PRIB

MANILA, Philippines — The Land Transportation Office (LTO) is under scrutiny anew because of suspicions that a new policy they intend to impose on motorists was a mere moneymaking scheme.

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto questioned the need for the additional requirements being imposed by the LTO to enable drivers to secure licenses with a 10-year validity.

Among these requirements is for drivers to undergo a 15-hour “theoretical driving course,” which, he said, has raised suspicions that this was just another LTO attempt to raise more money.

“My problem here is that the DOTr [LTO] has been very notorious about its moneymaking schemes, such as letting one pay off his or her passing a driving test, so here, there is this suspicion again that this could be another of those. That is the common complaint of our people,” he said.

Recto made the statement in his interpellation of the proposed P120-billion budget for 2022 of the DOTr and its attached agencies, presented by Sen. Grace Poe, Senate committee on finance vice chair.

He questioned why the LTO imposed additional requirements before granting a 10-year license, reminding the agency that Congress passed the law to get rid of the hassles of red tape for the ordinary folk, and not to put an additional burden on them.

Recto wondered why the country’s 16.6 million drivers seeking to renew their licenses, about 8.7 million of which are “professional” drivers, would be required to undergo a 15-hour driving test, including those who do not have records of previous violations.

“That’s true; it looks like they put one over us here,” Poe noted.

Poe said that while she understood that the objective of the new requirement jibes with the need for the government to ensure only “competent and knowledgeable drivers on the road,” the cost of the training program, usually P1,500 to P2,000, would be an added burden to the people.

“Fifteen hours — I’m not sure if that is actually beneficial, especially at this time of a pandemic,” she said.

Recto and Poe conceded that the requirement for a 15-hour training for driver’s license applications for new and renewals was not imposed by Republic Act No. 10930, which amended the Land Transportation and Traffic Code, but was only raised in its implementing rules and regulations (IRR).

Poe echoed anew the common complaint among legislators wherein agencies tasked to craft the IRR were adding impositions that were not covered by the main law.

“Amid all these technicalities of the IRR, I hope the [LTO] would be willing to review it and will be open to the possibility of amending the IRR,” she said.

Poe said the LTO has credibility problems in administering driving tests because of reports of the prevalent practice wherein applicants were often handed with answers for the written examination while the actual driving tests were often “bought.”

Senate President Vicente Sotto III said he would not mind the additional requirements for driver’s license applicants if only the LTO could give assurance on the soundness of test results.

He cited an “unusual” case in recent years wherein a blind person managed to obtain a driver’s license.