QUEZON CITY (PIA) — The Land Transportation Office (LTO), in partnership with the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), will hold the pilot implementation of its remote renewal of driver’s licenses for Filipinos based in Taiwan on September 21 and 22, using a system that operates on digital communications technology.
LTO Chief, Assistant Secretary Atty. Vigor D. Mendoza II said the pilot implementation would initially benefit around 400 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Taiwan, with 200 slots in the Taichung area and another 200 in Kaohsiung locality on the following day.
“Maisasakatuparan na natin ang bilin ng ating Pangulong Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. na dalhin sa ibang bansa ang ating digital services para sa kapakanan ng ating mga OFWs,” said Mendoza.
(We will be able to fulfill the directive of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. to bring our digital services to other countries for the benefit of our OFWs.)
He added that with LTO’s digital transaction, OFWs need not wait to return home to the Philippines to renew their licenses.
Mendoza also said that their agency’s online service was an offshoot of the agreement signed between LTO and DMW, through Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac, to come up with a project that aims to streamline the process of renewing the driver’s license of OFWs by having the entire process done completely online.
According to the LTO, the pilot implementation comes with the test of the system and a gathering of feedback from OFWs to identify any possible glitches.
The Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) already prescreened the OFW applicants based on the following requirements:
- Driver’s license expiring within sixty (60) days or expired within two (2) years from the date of expiration, and no revision of records to be made before renewal
- Active LTMS (referred to hereafter as “LTO Portal”) account with OFW’s biometric profile captured
- Online CDE certification taken from the LTO Portal
- Medical certificate provided by an LTO-accredited telemedical facility
- Smartphone with an Apple App Store or Google Play Store installed
After the applicant completes the payment for all the required fees for the license, the LTO will print the license and notify the OFW once the card is ready for shipping.
“The transaction time to complete the renewal process can be as fast as one (1) hour, provided that the OFW has applied at a time that coincides with the office hours of LTO, comparable to the total processing time of a walk-in applicant as cited in the Citizen’s Charter,” explained Mendoza.
Further, for the conduct of the exam, the LTO strongly encourages the applicants to use a bigger device like a laptop or tablet for the proper conduct of the examination. From the actual test of the telemedical exam, the completion time for this averages around 10 minutes.
“From the initial application of the OFW until the delivery of his license card to his appointed foreign address in Taiwan for this launch, the total process can take anywhere from 3-5 days,” said Mendoza.
He added that the remote digital services of the LTO will be expanded at the soonest possible time to other parts of the world, particularly in the Middle East, the United States, and Europe. (JEG/PIA-NCR)
