LTO central office, BARMM embark on joint public service program

COTABATO CITY — Efforts to correct notions that driving licenses from the Bangsamoro government are valid only in its territory got a boost with the crafting of a service cooperation agreement between regional officials and the Department of Transportation on Thursday, September 19.

Radio reports here on Friday stated that the Land Transportation Office (LTO) shall soon expand its comprehensive Land Transportation Management System (LTMS) to the autonomous region via an agreement forged on Thursday by officials of the Department of Transportation and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

The agreement, binding the LTO and the Bangsamoro Land Transportation Office to implement together the LTMS in the autonomous region, was signed during a symbolic rite then in Quezon City by DOTr's secretary, Jaime Bautista and assistant secretary, Vigor Mendoza, who is LTO’s chief, BARMM Transportation and Communications Minister Paisalin Pangandaman Tago and Razul Gayak, the director of the Bangsamoro LTO.

MoTC-BARMM’s director-general, Roslaine Macao-Maniri and DOTr Assistant Secretary Ricardo Alfonso also affixed their signatures to the agreement, according to radio reports.

Tago, who is also a concurrent member of the 80-seat Bangsamoro regional parliament, told reporters on Friday that the LTMS will enhance the services of the Bangsamoro LTO, particularly in issuances and renewals of driver’s licenses, processing of vehicle registration documents and law-enforcement activities of the agency.

“This is a tacit indication that the central office of the LTO is keen on helping us carry out our programs in the autonomous region,” Tago said.

Residents of BARMM, among them members of the business community, were elated learning about the LTO and Bangsamoro LTO’s joint public service initiative. 

 Traders, government employees and private individuals in Cotabato City and in nearby towns told reporters that such a tie-up between the LTO and the Bangsamoro LTO is essential in disproving nasty assertions by law enforcers outside of the autonomous region that licenses and vehicle documents from agencies of the Bangsamoro government, including the Bangsamoro Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, are valid only in provinces and cities covered by the MoTC-BARMM.

A number of BARMM residents complained about having been told by law enforcers, during their operations in highways outside of the region, to secure driving licenses and vehicle documents only from LTO and LTFRB offices in administrative regions to forestall validity recognition issues, apparently unaware that functions of both agencies had fully been devolved to the Bangsamoro regional government based on its charter, the Republic Act 11054 or Bangsamoro Organic Law.

Officials of the MoTC-BARMM have been reaching out to LTO and LTFRB offices in administrative regions in Mindanao to address the constraint via dialogues.

Brig. Gen. Prexy Tanggawohn, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region and his counterpart in Region 12, Brig. Gen. James Gulmatico, separately told reporters on Friday that they are helping address the issue.