Car Registration Modernization

Makati City, Philippines ‒ Last July 17, 2017, I had a talk over lunch with my co-bloggers/lady drivers at Planet Grapes. We talked about driving and experiences with the renewal of our car registration. It is sad and frustrating to know that among Asian countries, Philippines and Vietnam are the only two left that are still using manual registration, the rest they do it online.

When you buy a brand new car, it is hassle-free because the first three years of registration is now being handled or processed by the car company where you purchased the car. Here comes the inconvenient part after three years ‒ the time spent going to LTO (Land Transportation Office) and processing takes time. Being a mom is not easy. We all agreed that we are happy with our role as a mother and very busy as well ‒ every minute of the day is important, time is gold. 

President Duterte said that "change is coming" and he named LTO as one of the most corrupt agencies in our country. Why can't we start the changes even from one agency to another? Modernization and computerization is very expensive and not an easy task to do which would really take time as well. Going back to car registration, it was suggested to use the Postal Office and make payment through the bank. While modernization is on the works, we can start using it instead of going to LTO and spend the whole day for processing ‒ why not use the postal office to send the requirements and send back to us when done. It will save our time and will also make use of our postal office which is seldom used nowadays. Of course it would be better if all transactions are digital, but that can wait as long as there is something that our government is doing to make life easier for us. It will benefit all Filipinos.

Women today are so busy compared to women 20 years ago. Since inflation can't be controlled, a lot of mothers (married or single) today are working in the office, work-at-home, etc. We can't just sit at home and relax, not all were born with a silver spoon. We need time to work, take care of our family and have time for ourselves. 

Stencil is one of the requirements that we don't think is appropriate to do it every time we renew. LTO have a record of that already when we first purchased the vehicle. Why do they need to do it on every renewal?

Here are some suggestions I gathered from moms:

• If engine number stencil is done on the first registration, it shouldn't be done again on the next renewal since LTO have a record already in their system.

• Accredited smoke emission testing in more areas with a bigger space for it not to cause traffic and save our time. Have a way to stop bogus emission testing.

• Online Registration

• Stop fixers. 

• For new cars, issuance of new plate and sticker shouldn't take too long. 

• If allegations of bribery is true, do something about this.

• Lower the amount of penalty for late registration.

If there will be modernization for the car registration, there will be less human interaction, less corruption. Fast transaction will save our time and will make our country more efficient in many ways, because if we have more time we are more productive.

About 6,000 vehicles are registered daily and that's a big number. According to 2017 SWS Survey Review, LTO got a -47 rating. Let us not wait for the time when no citizen would trust our government anymore. Let our voices be heard. 

If you have comments or suggestions, please  leave your comment below. Thank you.