After months of issuing temporary licenses, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) started releasing driver’s license cards on Tuesday, with the rollout of printing machines from its new supplier in 18 initial sites in Metro Manila.
Key licensing centers in other regions will also start issuing the new cards next Monday and by Sept. 15, all 233 LTO sites nationwide will have the cards and the machines, according to LTO spokesperson Jason Salvador.
This would address the LTO’s growing backlog of 1.2 million cards “hopefully, in a month’s time,” Salvador said.
The shortage in card supply started in 2013 after the Commission on Audit disallowed payment to the previous supplier, Amalgamated Motors Philippines Inc., for lack of a proper contract.
“We weren’t able to pay them since 2013. Although they were saying initially that the delay in the card delivery was due to the port congestion, eventually we saw that it’s because of the nonpayment,” Salvador said.
“Now, we’re hoping that this solves everything,” he said.
Allcard Plastics Philippines Inc. won the bidding in June to supply five million cards for P336.868 million.
On Tuesday, the LTO also tried a new system to speed up the process by opening separate windows for simple renewal and for those renewing with revisions.
Those applying for plain renewal will just confirm through the monitor that their information in the LTO database is correct. They don’t have to fill out a form and wait for the document’s evaluation. They can proceed to the photo signature booth and pay for the release of the new card.
“If we find it successful today, we will replicate it in all our renewal centers,” Salvador said.
He said the agency has been looking at the possibility of opening key sites to operate on Saturdays.
The 18 initial sites in Metro Manila issuing the new cards are the following:
Quezon City Licensing Center
Caloocan Licensing Extension Office
San Juan Licensing Center
Makati District Office
Manila East District Office
Pasay Licensing Center
Quezon City District Office
Las Piñas Licensing Extension Office
Manila Licensing Center
Marikina District Office
Muntinlupa Extension Office
Parañaque Extension Office
Pasig District Office
Taguig Extension Office
La Loma District Office
Valenzuela District Office
Manila South District Office
Mandaluyong Extension Office
(Erika Sauler, Philippine Daily Inquirer)