DOTC suspends new rule on professional driver’s license

MANILA, Philippines – Following concerns raised by senators, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has suspended a new policy requiring applicants for a professional driver’s license to get clearances from both the police and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

DOTC Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya suspended the implementation of the Land Transportation Office (LTO)’s Administrative Order No. AVT-2015-029 after Senators Franklin Drilon and Ralph Recto questioned the directive during the interpellation of the agency’s proposed 2016 budget on Tuesday, November 24.

The senators said the requirement adds another layer of red tape to motorists’ license applications, with Recto pointing out that drivers will have to wait in long queues to secure clearances from the two agencies.

Instead of requiring applicants to go through long lines, he proposed “file sharing” among the agencies, where both the NBI and the Philippine National Police “electronically and manually provide the LTO with their databases on persons with criminal records.”

“Why not provide the LTO with a negative list and use this as a basis for approving or disapproving applications for a professional driver’s license? Instead of lining up at the NBI and at the police station, perhaps they can just send the LTO a list of people with criminal cases,” Recto said.

Drilon also said that the policy merits further study as there are criminal charges that do not have bearing on one’s qualification to drive, but could be basis for the denial of application.

Among other things, the administrative order requires clearance “that the applicant has not been convicted of any offense involving moral turpitude or reckless imprudence resulting from reckless driving.”

But the senators said that pending cases involving libel or illegal assembly, for example, should not be made a basis for rejecting a license application because these do not have bearing on one’s capacity to drive.

About 1.5 million Filipinos hold a professional driver’s license, according to transport officials. – Rappler.com