THE Land Transportation Office-National Capital Region-West (LTO-NCR-West) opened its Araneta Licensing Center on Tuesday to serve more clients needing a student permit, a new driver’s license, or a renewal.

LTO Chief Assistant Secretary Teofilo Guadiz III welcomed the opening of the LTO-Araneta Licensing Center, located at 20 G. Araneta Avenue, Barangay Sto. Domingo, Quezon City.

Guadiz, who used to work as an LTO regional director from 2010 to 2012, said the licensing center was established to bring government service closer to the people.

“As Director Rox was telling me yesterday, the licensing center is one of the best projects of our NCR. When we conceived the rules of licensing… you remember during my watch, inuna po namin yung drivers school, then yung driving education, purposely to educate drivers in order to reduce road crashes. Ngayon po licensing centers will be here to determine if it’s up to them for driver’s licenses will really come up to the standards of LTO,” Guadiz said.

“And I expect from you the strictest standards po in approving the driver’s license. We’ve set up some goals, we’ve set up some expectations… educational requirements when getting a license, like a 15-hour seminar plus, of course, the theoretical driving course in practical driving course in the hope that if they get their license, they will be educated enough para mabawasan po ang road crashes. This is the greatest challenge so far of LTO,” he added.

Atty. Renier Paul R. Yebra of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) Office of the Secretary congratulated LTO-NCR-West Director Roque “Rox” Verzosa III for spearheading the opening of the licensing center.

“On behalf of the DOTr secretary, Sec. Jaime Bautista, nais po namin kayong i-congratulate for the opening of this Araneta Licensing Center. Maraming salamat po Kay RD Versoza for ensuring that NCR-West becomes our role model in all regional offices, a one-stop shop where all LTO concerns are addressed,” Yebra said.

“Kami po ay nagugulat ni RD Versoza because, in a very short span of time, marami na siyang nagawa. And I can say that na ito po ay mostly because sa guidance ni Asec. Guadiz. He’s a very good leader, he’s firm, he’s strong. And with this, we hope si RD Rox will continue to surprise us with these achievements,” he said.

Yebra added that the opening of the licensing center is true to the promise of DOTr chief Bautista “to provide affordable, accessible, comfortable, and safe transport services throughout the county.”

In his speech, Verzosa expressed his sincere appreciation to those who made the opening of the licensing center a success.

“Today marks the sixth opening of our licensing center in our region. Every year the number of road fatalities has risen steadily, and this has caused a lot of concern for the government and the Filipino people generally,” Verzosa said.

“In light of the current situation, the LTO has been urged not just to strengthen the policy of the issuance of driver’s licenses to improve the quality of driver education but also to ensure that driver’s licenses are issued only to deserving applicants with sufficient driving skills and knowledge of road safety and proper road courtesy,” he said.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Jun I. Legaspi