A day at the LTO, three letters to strike fear into the heart of the most stalwart Filipino.

Since I arrived in the Philippines a couple of months ago, I have been relying on the treaty agreement that enables me to drive making use of my own British licence, an International licence I procured before leaving the UK and my passport. As you can imagine, carrying all of these documents at all times is a nuisance (and I have on occasion forgotten them, which is a no-no here) especially my passport. Kat suggested that we should apply for my own Filipino driving licence; the process of which I had heard anecdotally was fraught with frustration and a long time waiting.

It is probably fair to say that there are few things in life which really get Filipinos complaining and it seems the LTO (Land Transportation Office) is not only one of these, but is quite near the top. Kat had decided that we should seek some assistance in the application as being a foreigner the process was not quite the same as for a Filipino; these steps were as follows (with some commentary from me on how it all went):-

• ·      We arrived at the LTO facility around 8am after I drove through the rush hour traffic; we found somewhere to park the car we met up with our guide for the day at his office adjacent to the LTO facility a few km from our home. Louie took us through the process verbally explaining each in turn, in Tagalog as his English was not up to it, so Kat translated for me.
• ·      Provide two copies of my original full UK licence (which I have held since 1978), passport (including visa pages), Alien Registration Card and International Driving Licence and have these verified as original copies by one of the LTO Admin Officers. We had already made the copies elsewhere, which seems to be common practice, the LTO could charge for making copies which they know are genuine……
• ·      Complete the application form for the issuance of a Filipino licence based on holding a foreign licence.
• ·      Proceed for a drug test and medical across the road, this involved the first of several forms to be completed on in triplicate, no carbon paper or NCR paper allowed, so complete each one by hand. After which you had to queue up to pay the cashier for the medical and drug tests, it was like being at the deli counter…..
• o   The medical was simple, turns out I am a lot shorter than I thought (or so my new licence says) at 1.65m against 1.7 but what is 2 inches between friends?? I have also lost around 5 or 6kg in weight since arriving here, must be the lack of beer. The eye test was to read a chart, if you could meet the stated minimum with glasses on then no problems, so an all clear on that one, a photo was then taken for the record.
• o   The drug test was straightforward, pee in a bottle, hand it in for analysis for THC and methamphetamine, a negative result on both (a pass) and another photo and all 10 of my fingerprints were taken.
• ·      After this we returned to the LTO facility to continue the process, which involved
• Waiting for a photo to be taken and an electronic signature at Window 3
• Wait some more for another photo and electronic signature to be taken at Window 2.
• At this point Louie noticed I was wearing flip-flops (or slippers) which are not welcome up in the test room, so Kat volunteered to go and buy me a pair of shoes
• Pay a small fee at Window 9, Kat also brought the shoes over, one was a bit tight, but would suffice
• Collect receipt to confirm payment from Window 5
• Take receipt to Window 1 to book in for the road rules review and the written test. We had some time before the review and test, so went to get lunch.
• ·      After lunch I, with a number of others were taken to the examination room where we were shown a number of animated informational films, all in Tagalog regarding the rules of the road and road signs used in the Philippines, fortunately the rules are fairly universal as are the road signs, I did learn something about right of way at junctions with no traffic lights which was handy.
• ·      Subsequent to the informational films, we took a 40 question multiple-choice exam, mine was provided in English, I was confident from my existing knowledge of 38 of the answers with only 2 causing me any problems.
• ·      The exam was signed off as having been completed by me in the exam room by the invigilator and I was told to report downstairs for the practical test. I have to add, at this point that Louie was surprised this was taking place as most foreigners with an existing licence are not required to undergo this, however because us Brits drive on the correct side of the road, unlike most of the rest of the world, an exception is made for us and we are required to demonstrate that we can indeed drive a left hand drive vehicle.
• ·      Pay for the practical test, even though we were using Kat’s car (I think she had made some other payments for the licence whilst I was taking the test at any one or more of the windows!!)
• ·      The practical test, which took place on a track about the size of our 3-bedroom house, was odd to put it mildly. You start at a line, drive about 2m then up a slope, down the other side to a junction with a stop sign, stop, indicate left then execute the turn. Drive along the top of the square, turn left again, negotiate a pedestrian crossing then cross the finish line. I think we managed it without leaving 1^st gear, or maybe got into 2^nd on the back straight!!!
• ·      That was it, job done, just wait some more for the licence, from Window 5. This was completed and we were able to walk away with my nice shiny new licence just after 3:10pm a total of around 7 hours, the majority of which was spent just sitting around and waiting.

Now I appreciate the need to regulate who has a licence to operate a motor vehicle and I will comment again on my thoughts with regard to the overall quality of drivers here, which is generally appalling, or at least road behaviour is and the flouting of even the most basic road rules let alone vehicular safety with special note to be made of :-

• working lights or more importantly the lack of them, both front and back
• overtaking on bends
• undertaking
• driving on the shoulder to undertake
• a total lack of lane discipline
• no or inappropriate use of indicators
• a total disregard of speed limits
• killer buses
• homicidal trucks
• suicidal motor cyclists
• bullying Foretuner and Monterey Sport drivers

Back in the UK, and some of this may have changed slightly since I last had anything to do with it, the process to get a licence is:-

• ·      Obtain application form online or from the Post Office.
• ·      Complete the form and have one of two photographs validated by a non-family member of standing in the community (this includes doctors, lawyers, company directors and bizarrely holders of licence to server intoxicating liquor i.e. pub landlords).
• ·      Post to form and appropriate payment to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency in Wales (DVLA).
• ·      Receive provisional (student) licence.
• ·      Undergo training on the highway until sufficiently proficient to drive and are considered ready for the test
• ·      Apply for test(s)
• ·      Undergo written test, which is computer based and involves knowledge of road rules, hazard identification and understanding of basic vehicle care.
• ·      Undergo practical test, which takes place on the public highway and requires a number of manoeuvres to be successfully executed.
• ·      Once both tests have been successfully completed, follow the same procedure as for the student licence, but include pass certificates and complete form for a full licence.
• ·      Receive full driving licence in the post……………..

By the way, apparently registering a vehicle is just as much fun as the driver licensing process and can take the same amount of time, this is something I am not looking forward to, I hope the dealership can manage this process for me when I buy my car in a few months.