INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
CEBU CITY — The Land Transportation Office in Central Visayas (LTO-7) has suspended a driving school and an instructor for an alleged fraudulent issuance of Theoretical Driving Class (TDC) certificates.
LTO-7 Director Victor Emmanuel Caindec signed the suspension order of the Danao City-based driving school, NC Tiger Driving School, and one of its instructors, identified as Luchen P. Tero, for allegedly failing to comply with the mandates for TDC classes.
Caindec tasked the LTO-7 Regional Accreditation Committee and the legal division head, Atty. Vincent Francis Bien Santiago, to investigate complaints last September 2022 by several individuals who felt short-changed by driving schools that don’t conduct the required eight-hour/day theoretical training for TDC certificates, a requirement of LTO for the issuance of a student permit.
The NC Tiger Driving School Danao City Branch was ordered with a P10,000 fine and a suspension of accreditation for three months. Its instructor, Tero, was also mandated to pay a fine of P10,000 and the suspension of accreditation for six months.
Based on the investigation, NC Tiger Driving School conducted half-day TDC sessions when the LTO rules stated that a session should be a whole day for three days.
The school allegedly conducted one morning and an afternoon session for different sets of students per day.
The LTO-7’s ocular visit to the driving school also showed their two classrooms could only accommodate a minimum of 27 and 24 students per instructor and per session per day, but their class sometimes reaches 50 students per class.
Caindec has directed LTO-7’s operations division and legal department to conduct region-wide audits and expand its investigation on reports of rampant “no-test, same-day certification issuance” schemes by accredited driving schools or simply known by the public as issuance of “no show” certificates.
The order also covers capacity and compliance audits of accredited medical clinics and accredited dealers across Central Visayas.
Caindec also revealed that several show-cause orders were being prepared based on initial findings, covering several other driving schools.