a day at LTO

I had a gruelling day yesterday.

Having spent a few days in my mom's house in Cavite, my husband and I planned that Thursday would be my "license" day, since we could pass by the Land Trasportation Office (LTO) in Binanongan on our way home to his parents' house in Rizal. We have anticipated that it would take us half of the day to finish our transaction. BUT we have anticipated wrongly!

We were at the office around nine in the morning. I have my fully-filled out form with me, which I have downloaded from their website, together with a proof of my tax identification number, which is a requirement to apply for a new driver's license. However, I was advised that the office requires an original copy of the form and that I have to secure one from one of the windows. And so, I had to fall in line and wait for nearly thirty minutes just to get hold of an application form. As soon as I was handed the form, the person-in-charge also gave me a stub of where to go next, to an accredited center for drug testing and medical exam. I filled out the application form as I wait for my turn for the drug testing. After I had submitted my urine sample, I had to wait for around 15 minutes again for the result, afterwhich, I was advised to proceed to the next door for the medical exam. Thankfully, the medical exam was just about my BP, weight, height and vision, and no waiting is required. The doctor filled out the medical exam form and noted a condition, that I can only drive with corrective lenses. Of course!

After the drug test and the medical exam was another queue to the window where I would submit the accomplished application form and all other forms that were attached to it after the tests. The queue was so long, that even if I had already asked somebody to queue for me while I was undergoing the initial tests, I still waited for more than an hour just to submit my documents. Upon submitting the documents, I was advised again to wait for my name to be called, for my turn to have my picture and signature to be captured electronically. Good thing, it only took five minutes of waiting. After this step, I had to wait for my turn at the cashier to make my payment for the written driving test. This took another thirty minutes!

Then it was time for lunch break. We had lunch, and hurriedly came back for my scheduled written test. It only took me thirty minutes to read the reviewer and answer the forty-item test. I thought that finishing the test in little time would make the procedure faster. But I thought wrong. After the written test, I had to wait for the examiner to go with me for the practical driving test. After passing the test, I was advised to pay for the license fee, but had to wait for nearly three hours for my turn to the cashier! Finally, after paying, my driver's license card had been released. It was already six in the evening when we left the office.

It is understandable that many factors attribute to the inefficient process flow in the said office. However, I just hope that the Chief of the said extension office would leave his desk, observe the transactions, and think of the best way to better serve the people. He can also find time to read the suggestions and comments left in the box. Making the people wait the whole day for one simple process is too far from the quality service that they claim they give the people.

There's a better way to do things in that office, I hope they realize that soon.

Looking at the bright side of it, I now have my driver's license again!