EDITORIAL - ISO-certified

It is a testament to the low public opinion of government agencies that when the chief of the Department of Transportation and Communications announced the end of corruption at the Land Transportation Office, everyone thought it was a stale joke.

The department, however, was proud to announce the other day that the LTO had received an ISO 9001-2000 certification for its driver’s licensing process from Certification International Philippines Inc., the local arm of the Switzerland-based International Organization for Standardization.

The issuance of a driver’s license has long been a subject of complaints from applicants who encounter red tape, fixers and general inefficiency in the bureaucracy. Streamlining the process reduces opportunities for graft and the need for fixers.

Filipinos can only hope the ISO certification of the LTO was well deserved and the process sustained. Issuing drivers’ licenses is just one of the functions of the LTO. The agency, which at one time has been ranked as the fifth most corrupt government agency, must work for similar certifications for its other functions, particularly vehicle registration. It’s not just the need to streamline the registration process; LTO personnel are also widely suspected of involvement in issuing spurious vehicle registrations to carjacking rings.

With the LTO getting ISO certification for one of its functions, other government agencies must also strive to get similar stamps of approval. The administration has long made noises about reducing corruption and cutting red tape. It should look at the example of the LTO to see how this can actually happen. Similar efforts have been made in the past in some agencies perceived to be among the most corrupt, but the efforts were stymied by the beneficiaries of graft.

For now most people still believe the ISO certification for the LTO is just another story for Ripley. But the snickering will disappear as the reforms that earned the certification are sustained.