LTO-7 to apply new rules vs. corruption – Tancinco

CEBU, Philippines - The Land Transportation Office in Region 7 joins all regional offices nationwide in implementing policy reforms to weed out corruption in the agency, officer-in-charge Arnel Tancinco said.

In a press conference yesterday, Tancinco said the agency needs to institutionalize reforms to lessen corruption in his office.

“It cannot be denied nga naa gyud corruption, so para mahunong na ni, this Order would at least lessen corruption,” said Tancinco.

Tancinco was referring to Administrative Order No. AVT-2014-024 or the Revised Rules and Regulations governing the sales reporting and initial registration of brand new and other motor vehicles that took effect last March 3.

The issuance aims to streamline the process of vehicle registration and eventually remove the negative effects of decentralization like loss of records, double transactions and fraudulent transfers of vehicles, the OIC of LTO-7 said.

He said this AO governs all pre-registration matters, including sales reporting, which are presently processed at the regional offices of LTO.

It also aims to de-clog transactions of district and extension offices by implementing faster processing of renewal and miscellaneous registrations, he said.

The new system, he said, will eliminate red tape and excessive bureaucracy as accredited dealers will be able to complete initial registration of reported sales.

He said ordering, distribution and issuance of license plates will also be improved under the new system.

“With the implementation of this Order, mas madali ang proseso sa mga documents. We are hoping to cut the red tape in the bureaucracy,” Tancinco said.

As part of this policy reforms, Tancinco said that by Monday, the Regional Registration Unit will be the new office to cater registration of new vehicles.

Meanwhile, the LTO official also said plate numbers of those motor vehicles registered on and before September 15, 2013 are already available, while plate numbers with registration on and before February 14, 2014 are already available in the Regional Property Section.

Tancinco said the LTO-7 has recorded a backlog of at least 7,000 plates. — (FREEMAN)