The Land Transportation Office (LTO) in Bohol on Wednesday conducted a ceremonial printing of driver’s licenses with five-year validity marking the start of faster transactions in their offices through the use of the Dermalog machine.
LTO Assistant Secretary Edgar Galvante and Victor Caindec, the agency’s Central Visayas director, led the ceremonial printing at the LTO office in Tagbailaran City.
Bohol First Lady Pureza Chatto, Provincial Administrator John Boiser and Tagbilaran City Mayor John Geesnell Yap who were the event’s guests of honor were issued new licenses printed using the new machine.
According to LTO Tagbilaran information officer Florencio Balazuela, processes using the new machine took five minutes starting from the encoding of information which took four minutes and the printing which was done in a minute.
The entire procedure including the filing of forms was completed in about ten minutes.
However, Balazuela said that the LTO could not determine how many licenses will be printed within a day using the German-made Dermalog machine until the issuance backlog is addressed.
Since November 2016, backlog for driver’s licenses with five-year validity ballooned to 50,000 plastic cards.
The licenses with five-year validity are being issued in the LTO offices of Tagbilaran and Jagna and the Driver’s License Renewal Center at the Island City Mall.
LTO Talibon is still not using its issued Dermalog machine due to the office’s slow internet connection.
Authorities had previously said that the use of the machine is “heavily internet-driven.” (Rey Tutas)