LTO scraps prescribed medical exam for driver's license holders
The Land Transportation Office (LTO) has scrapped the prescribed Periodic Medical Examination (PME) for holders of driver’s license with either five-year or 10-year validity.
LTO chief JayArt Tugade said he deemed it wise to waive the PME requirement based on various studies and data collected which basically revealed that failure to undergo the required PME is not included among causes of road crashes.
“There’s no empirical data saying that the periodic medical examination could prevent road crashes,” said Tugade.
Based on the previous guideline, a PME is mandatory for those issued with a 5-year or 10-year valid driver’s license aside from the regular medical examination for for application of a new or renewal of a driver’s license.
Those with a driver’s license that carry a five-year validity, a PME is conducted on the third year of the date of birth after the license was issued.
On the other hand, for those with a driver’s license that is valid for 10 years, the PME is conducted on the fourth year and seventh year of the date of birth after the license was issued.
The PME requirement, according to Tugade, was scapped with the issuance of the LTO Memorandum Circular 2021-2285 or the “Supplemental Implementing Rules and Regulations” of Republic Act 10930.
“For this reason, under the amended circular, the mandatory medical examination will now be a requirement only before applying for, and during the renewal, of a driver's license,” said Tugade.
“For licensees who will be issued a five-year validity driver’s license and 10-year validity driver’s license, the medical examination shall only be required 60 days prior to or on the specified renewal date,” he added.
He said that for Filipino driver's license holders who are working or are living abroad, they will be required to undergo a medical examination within 30 days upon their arrival in the Philippines before they are allowed to drive in the country.
The scrapping of PME as a mandatory requirement came after Tugade also initiated a daring move to set a price cap fee on driving schools amid numerous complaints from applicants of student permit and driver’s license.