President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has designated 1-United Transport Koalisyon (1 – UTAK) chairperson Vigor Mendoza II as the new head of the Land Transportation Office, Malacañang announced Wednesday.
Mendoza will serve as LTO chief, with the rank of Assistant Secretary, based on the list of appointments released by the Presidential Communications Office on its official Facebook page.
Mendoza, a lawyer, served as a congressman representing the transportation sector under the 1-UTAK party-list group. He replaces Jose Arturo Tugade, who resigned due to his disagreements with the Department of Transportation, LTO’s mother agency.
Meanwhile, the Commission on Audit flagged the LTO for the issuance of permits to 189 out of 285 driving school applicants despite deficiencies in their documentary requirements in 2022.
In an audit report, the Commission cited 66 percent of the total number of driving school applicants in Metro Manila, Cordillera Autonomous Region, Central Luzon, Bicol, Zamboanga Peninsula, and Soccsksargen transmitted incomplete or invalid documents.
The applicants were issued with provisional permits or certificates of accreditation contrary to a 2021 LTO memorandum circular enumerating the required documents, facilities, and equipment.
It will be among the problems to solve for Mendoza, who also worked as a former board member of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board and also of the Board of Trustees of the Philippine Electricity Market Corporation.
Mendoza likewise headed the Philippine Delegation to the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Transport Summit in Malaysia and became a resource speaker on the Philippine Property Market in different venues abroad.
The LTO is tasked to register motor vehicles, issue driver’s or conductor’s licenses and permits, enforce transportation laws, rules and regulations, and adjudicate apprehension cases.
The COA added: “Likewise, the laxity in the review and evaluation of the documentary requirements and on the conduct of site inspections by the Regional Accreditation Committee (RAC) defeats the objectives for which these minimum requirements were imposed.”
It told the DoTr to require the RAC to require driving school applicants with deficiencies to submit duly authenticated copies of the required documents, updated bank certificates in the name of their corporation for verification of their financial capabilities, and other documents to address deficiencies.
LTO must expedite the disposition of applications to ensure the legality and legitimacy of the operation of the driving schools, COA said.
“The respective LTO regional offices agreed with the recommendations.
Likewise, they informed that actions are being undertaken to address the noted deficiencies and eventually improve LTO’s compliance with the aforementioned memorandum circular,” it stated.