It looks like the time of setting aside a whole day just to register motor vehicles and renew driver’s licenses will soon be history. On Feb. 14, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) launched a program for the online renewal of vehicle registration. The onset of information technology and the continuing push of President Marcos to encourage government agencies to make full use of digitalization are making an impact on making the lives of citizens a little easier. The initiative, started by former President Duterte, had the Department of Transportation, the mother agency of the LTO, as one of the active supporters of digitalization. LTO Chief Jose Arturo Tugade said registration of vehicles could now be done via online through the Land Transportation Management System (LTMS) portal, a process that may take only five to 10 minutes to complete. The same LTMS portal is used in the online renewal of driver's licenses, which was implemented by the land transport agency in 2022. It only requires the applicant to appear at the LTO office for the photo, medical tests and to review the license before it is printed. The shift to online registration of vehicles will benefit the five million vehicle owners who have been renewing their registrations yearly. In the Philippines, the LTO requires registration renewal of cars every year after the first three-year validity of new vehicles. A hefty fine of as much as ₱10,000 is imposed for failure to do so. Tugade said the program is part of the government's goal of making government transactions seamless so that vehicle owners need not spend the whole day renewing the registration of their vehicles. "Through this scheme, private individuals, companies or organizations can now use the LTMS portal to renew the registration of their vehicles without the need to go to any of the agency’s district offices," said Tugade. The LTO said the online renewal of vehicle registration will only apply to plain or standard renewal transactions. Other requirements are – the private vehicle owner must have a registered LTMS portal account, and the last renewal transaction was completed using LTMS. Before conducting the online renewal, the owner should acquire a Certificate of Coverage (COC) or insurance of their choice. A step in the process will require the vehicle to be brought to the Private Motor Vehicle Inspection Center (PMVIC) and checked for road worthiness. "Both the validated insurance and the MV inspection report (MVIR) will be electronically sent to the LTMS. Once all the requirements are met, the vehicle owner can log in to his or her LTMS Portal account and conduct the renewal process, including online payment," said Tugade. "With the MV registration online renewal, vehicle owners can do it in a month’s time, at their own pace, and in the comfort of their homes or during their office break," he added. The use of the internet and digital transactions in government agencies will save time and money for the public, and the people will feel that the government cares for them. We hope the use of information technology will soon include other government services.