Just a reminder for
those applying for a Student-Driver’s Permit or a Driver’s License (including
renewals): you can only use medical certificates issued by
LTO-accredited doctors and clinics.
This has come back to light because of the LTO’s decision to disallow
hard copy medical certificate for the purposes of applying for a
Student-Driver’s Permit and Driver’s/Conductor’s Licenses. In lieu of that,
the LTO says that only electronically submitted medical certificates
will be allowed. And for doctors and clinics to have access to the LTO IT
system, they must be first accredited with the LTO.
This news is certainly a bummer for those who plan to use their personal or
company physician to generate the LTO’s required medical certificate. For those
who don’t have a personal doctor though, there’s no need to worry. Based on the
the LTO’s partial list of accredited doctors and clinics, most of them are
located near the vicinity of an LTO office / license renewal center.
If you want the full dates of implementation, it’s here:
- NCR West, NCR East, Region 11 – January 7, 2019
- Region 5, Region 4A, Region 4B, Region 7 – January 14, 2019
- Region 6, Region 9, Region 12 – January 21, 2019
- Region 1, Region 2, Region 3 – January 28, 2019
- Region 10, Region 8, CAR, CARAGA – February 4, 2019
Based on anecdotes, the first day of this new process hasn’t gone smoothly. Several people have pointed out that the LTO IT system allows a cap of just 60 persons per day for every clinic. This low cut-off means that several people reported that they couldn’t renew their Driver’s Licenses as early as 11:00 AM in some high-traffic places.
