The Land Transportation Office (LTO) in Bohol will start to print and issue plastic driver’s licenses tomorrow after issues on internet connectivity which are crucial in the printing process have been resolved.
This was the statement of LTO Tagbilaran information officer Florencio Balazuela in an interview with dyRD Balita on Tuesday.
According to Balazuela, LTO Assistant Secretary Edgar Galvante and Emmanuel Caindec, the new director of the agency’s Central Visayas office, will lead the launching of the license printing.
The LTO will be using German-made Dermalog machines which have been distributed to all of the agency’s offices in Bohol to print the licenses with a five-year validity.
Tests on the machines have been conducted and it was noted that the printing process significantly sped up.
“Na-instolan nata pero wala pa ta kahibalo kung pila ka minutesang pagprocess. Sa pagtry namo, six to eight minutes pero wala pa mi kabalo kung pila og normal operation na,” Balazuela said.
The printing of the licenses is “highly internet-driven,” authorities previously disclosed, prompting LTO offices to upgrade their connectivity.
However, the LTO’s Talibon office has yet to improve its internet speed causing the delay in the start of plastic card issuance at the branch.
LTO Tagbilaran, Jagna and the Driver’s License Renewal Office at Island City Mall are ready to process the plastic cards.
Balazuela called on the public to claim their plastic licenses by presenting receipts and their temporary licenses at the said LTO branches.
Additional details such as emergency information, biometrics and photos will be needed from the applicants, Balazuela said.
“Naay form nga ilang fill-apan pero by batch kay dili gyud na makas-a tanan,” he added.
Since November 2016, backlog of driver’s licenses rose to 50,000 plastic cards. (Rey Tutas)