Land Transportation Office-Central Visayas regional director Victor Emmanuel Caindec. (File photo)
CEBU CITY – Full-service licensing centers will be reopened in the provinces of Bohol and Negros Oriental to accommodate new applicants and renewals of driver’s licenses, the Land Transportation Office in Central Visayas (LTO-7) on Wednesday said.
LTO-7 regional director Victor Emmanuel Caindec said Assistant Secretary Edgar Galvante, the agency’s head, has approved the request to reopen the centers for these provinces as part of their effort to decongest the main LTO offices in both provinces.
In a letter sent to Galvante through LTO executive director lawyer Romeo Vera Cruz, Caindec requested in March this year for the reactivation of licensing renewal functions and issuance of student permits in the Driver's License Renewal Offices (DLROs) in Robinsons Dumaguete in Calindagan, Dumaguete City, and Island City Mall in Tagbilaran City.
Caindec said these offices were previously closed due to the low volume of clients following its limited services offered.
The centers were ordered closed in September of 2020 after the local government units in Dumaguete City and Tagbilaran City imposed lockdowns due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
"As a full-service licensing office, it can now cater to all licensing-related transactions and it is inside the malls which is convenient to our clients," Caindec said, adding that Galvante approved his request and directed "to make the necessary preparations to facilitate the immediate reopening of the said DLROs”.
He said final touches are applied for the new Bohol Licensing Center as the fifth office on the island to offer new licensing services.
The LTO offices in Bohol include Jagna District Office-Garcia Hernandez in West Canayaon, Garcia-Hernandez; Tagbilaran City District Office in R. Enerio St. Dampas Road, Tagbilaran City; Talibon Extension Office in Poblacion, Talibon; and Tagbilaran DO Licensing Ext. (Alturas Mall) in Poblacion II, Tagbilaran City.
"The Bohol Licensing Center is targeted to open by the second or third week of May 2022,” he added. (PNA)
