With the signing of Republic Act No. 10930 extending the validity of licenses from three years to five years, the Land Transportation Office admitted it faces longer time to monitor the health of drivers.
“Whereas when done every three years, the time span in monitoring the health condition of the driver seeking renewal of license is shorter,” said lawyer Gomer J. Dy, director of the Land Transportation Office on Thursday.
He said with the validity of the license extended to five years, there is difficulty in monitoring the health of drivers.
He said that in a span of five years, a lot of things might happen to the driver to include accident or even contracting illnesses, affecting the person’s driving capacity.
“But if this is the case then we can ask our law enforcers to check on the status of the driver as well as their registration,” said Dy.
But since the Implementing Rules and Regulations are still being drafted, there is still no mandatory implementation for monitoring. “According to our central office, the Implementing Rules and Regulations is still being drafted and is now 85 percent completed, “Dy said. When the IRR is approved and published, the law will take effect 15 days after.
“Our target date is 3rd week of September,” Dy added.
From P417.63, there will be an increase of P235 fee in terms of application of license so therefore the total amount for acquiring Driver’s License is P652. There is an increase because of the longer validity of the card, the security features and materials used for the license card.
The issuance of licenses with five year validity started last November 2, 2016 and as of the month of August there are 129,771 people who are using the temporary license. The issuance of the permanent license will depend on how fast the IRR will be completed and also with the contract with the supplier.
“Once the IRR is published and the delivery of the plastic cards will be completed nationwide, probably October or November this year we will be able to release it,” Dy said.
Individuals who applied for Driver’s license prior the said date will have the validity of three years.
Even then there are still 23,352 people who have yet to receive their licenses. “This happened because the plastic cards are still being ordered by the supplier, “he said.
He said the people who will greatly benefit from the extension of validity of the license are those working abroad. Their return in the country varies and with this law they will not worry about renewing it immediately.
Dy suggests that the IRR should include the qualifications to apply for the 10 years validity of license, adding that persons arrested for traffic violations otherwise that person won’t be able to benefit from the 10 years validity of license. Additional fee of P235 should be added on that additional 5 years. “It’s like a reward for good behavior, good driving and careful driving,” said Dy.
