Land Transportation Office (LTO) Chief and Transport Assistant Secretary Jose Arturo Tugade resigned from his post on Monday (May 22) due to “differing methods with the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and Secretary Jaime J. Bautista extended his "appreciation" of the former's service innovation at the LTO during his seven months in office.
The LTO chief's resignation, effective June 1, will allow Secretary Bautista to have a “free hand” in choosing “who he can best work with” according to Asec. Tugade.
However, the DOTr Secretary has not yet named a replacement for the LTO Chief.
"We will submit to the Office of the President our recommendation of an LTO Chief who can display the same fervor, while aligning efforts to the mission of this Department," the DOTr Secretary stated.
Asec Tugade assumed his post at LTO in November last year and implemented reforms, such as shifting from written temporary operator’s permits to an electronic system, imposing a price cap for driving school rates and giving incentives for electric vehicles.
However, he faced challenges, such as the shortage of plastic cards for driver’s licenses as well as shortages in vehicle license registration plates.
The DOTr decided to move the submission of bids for these materials from April 24 to May 24, creating more delays according to the LTO chief.
But the DOTr blamed the LTO for the delay as the latter should have started procuring the materials for license cards and plates last August but only started doing so in March this year.