LTO may remove 8-hour test requirement for Driver’s License Renewal

In February, a lawmaker is pushing for the Land Transportation Office (LTO) to temporarily suspend its eight-hour driver education test requirement for driver’s license renewals to also help slow down the spread of COVID-19.

The House Deputy Speaker Rufus Rodriguez said that while drivers can obtain their certifications from LTO-accredited driving schools, they would still have to pay up to P5,000 for it which is a significant financial burden for motorists.

According to BusinessWorld, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has now backed Rodriguez’s House Resolution 2325, which requests the LTO to suspend the driver’s license requirement during the pandemic.

“(While) it is a function that is necessary, proper and incidental to the power of the LTO to issue driver’s licenses… it is a function that properly pertains to the LTO and it is not contemplated by EO No. 1101, s. 1985, that said function be performed by an LTO-accredited driving school or institution.” – said in a letter by DOJ Undersecretary Emmeline Aglipay-Villar sent to transport committee chairperson Edgar Sarmient.

Rodriguez has also issued a statement in which he expresses his optimism that the LTO will ultimately listen to his request to suspend the requirement.