The Land Transportation Office (LTO) practically pointed to driving schools as the reason why it is too expensive to secure a driver’s license in the Philippines.
In a press briefing on Friday, Feb, 24., LTO chief Jose Arturo “JayArt” Tugade clarified that the agency only charge P250 for student permit—P100 for application fee and P150 for student permit fee— and P685 for the regular driver’s license— P585 for the license fee and P100 for application fee.
But it is the mandatory requirement that those who want to secure a student permit and driver’s license must undergo Theoretical Driving Course (TDC) and Practical Driving Course (PDC) that resulted in an applicant shelling out P9,000 to P15,000—and even higher for some.
Tugade said such pricey requirements cannot be waived since it is mandated by the Republic Act 10930, which extends the validity of driver’s license to 10 years, that was signed into law in 2019.
The excessive fees that applicants must shell out to get a driver’s license has been the subject of complaints after the law was passed but was revived anew when Pampanga 4th District Rep. Ana York Bondoc called out the LTO for what she described as anti-poor policy.
Tugade admitted that they also received reports of the excessive fees being charged by driving schools to the applicants: “I also have friends who also told me that driving schools are indeed charging high fees.”
“This is the reason, according to Tugade, why he reconvened a committee that would study the complaints.
Nabudol?
Tugade revealed that when RA 10930 was enacted into law, he was told that the two major groups representing the driving schools had a verbal agreement to come up with a standard rate for both the TDC and the PDC.
For the TDC, the two groups verbally agreed that the price range is between P1,400 to P2,500. And for the PDC, the charge will not exceed P4,500.
Both the TDC and the PDC are required for applicants of student permit and new applicants for driver’s license. Only TDC is required for those renewing the licenses.
Such verbal agreement appeared to have not been heard, or not honored by some driving schools.
No study
The 2018 Global Status Report on Road Safety by the World Health Organization (WHO) ranked the Philippines 11th out of 175th countries with the reported number of road traffic deaths at 10,012, of which 4.7 percent are drivers/passengers of two to three-wheelers.
The frequency of road accidents in the Philippines is one of the reasons why RA 10930 was enacted into law in 2019, the intention is to make the country’s road safer by assuring that those who would be given with driver’s license are qualified and responsible.
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), on the other hand, reported that in 2021, a total of 58,447 road accidents were reported in Metro Manila.
The number of road accidents in Metro Manila last year was slightly lower.
Tugade said the LTO has no study that determines if those who undergo practical driving courses via driving schools are better and safer drivers as compared to those who only learned how to drive through friends and relatives.
Solution by March
Tugade, however, has committed to come up with the solution on the complaints of exorbitant fees in securing a driver’s license by March this year.
He said the technical working group (TWG) tasked to review the policies in connection with the rules on TDC and PDC was already advised to submit its findings and recommendations by the first week of March this year.
“We in the LTO are not oblivious to this fact (excessive fees) that’s why the first thing I did when I first assumed the position on Nov. 15 is to look into this by convening a committee that will revisit the guidelines as well as the fees being charged by the driving schools,” said Tugade.
“The intention is to come up with a reasonable fee structure that would be followed by driving schools,” he added.
One of them, according to Tugade, is to check if the standardization of the fees could be included as one of the requirements in accrediting driving schools.
Currently, the three main guidelines by the LTO in accrediting driving schools are financial capability, operational capability and the permits issued by concerned government agencies.
Free TDC
In the meantime that the public is still waiting for the solution from the LTO, Tugade said he had already tasked all heads of LTO offices across the country to conduct as many free TDCs in their respective areas.
“Before, the free TDCs are being done only in LTO offices but now, these are already being done down to the barangay level,” Tugade said.