BACOLOD CITY -- A Land Transportation Office (LTO) district office will open in August in E.B. Magalona, Negros Occidental to provide residents of the province, particularly in the third district, easier access to LTO services.
Local officials led by Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson, third district Rep. Francisco ‘Kiko’ Benitez, and Mayor Marvin Malacon, along with LTO-Western Visayas director Eric Lenard Tabaldo led the blessing and inauguration of the LTO district office in Barangay Tabigue on Monday.
Malacon said the idea started in 2017 and was initially proposed to be built in Silay City.
The proposed LTO district office project was awarded to the E.B. Magalona upon the passage of House Bill No. 8034 authored by Benitez
Malacon said that Senator Grace Poe then sponsored it to the Senate and passed it into a law through Republic Act 11749 or an act establishing a district office of LTO in the town.
The province’s third district is composed of the municipality of Murcia as well as the cities of Silay, Talisay, and Victorias.
Aside from the people in northern Negros, Malacon said the office is open to accommodate anyone, including Bacolod residents.
The office is situated in a 2,000 square meter lot donated by a landowner to the municipal government, according to Malacon.
Malacon said the provincial government then allocated about P3 million for the construction of the building, while the local government provided for the fencing, and the purchase of some amenities and equipment.
The town's LTO district office will be headed by Reuben Tampos, who is the head of LTO Bacolod district office. His post here will then be assumed by Renato Novero, who also previously served the LTO Bacolod district office.
With the said development, Malacon said it will help decongest LTO district offices in other cities.
Meanwhile, Lacson said the office will bring closer to the constituents of the people of Negros, and will also boost the local economy.