Lawmakers on Sunday appealed to the Land Transportation Office to defer plans to require drivers renewing their licenses to undergo a mandatory seminar.
Citizens Battle Against Corruption party-list representatives Eddie Villanueva and Domingo Rivera made the statement following the announcement of LTO-Region XI that it would hold mandatory seminars for drivers who will renew their licenses.
“Though the Department of Transportation has already clarified that such mandatory seminar is just a proposal for now, we appeal to the LTO to hold in abeyance any such plan while the entire country is grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic,” Villanueva said.
“It will be an additional financial burden to the drivers and it will unnecessarily expose applicants to the virus which now have more potent variants. All the measures the government should take while braving this pandemic must be aimed at alleviating or cushioning the debilitating impact of COVID-19. Anything that will add up to their hardship should never be mulled at the first place,” he added.
Rivera said while they understand the objectives of the mandatory seminar, the proposal is ill-timed amid the surge in COVID-19 cases.
“We are not against refresher seminars for drivers to ascertain their worthiness to be given a license. However, a well-intentioned policy yet ill-timed will lead to opposition. This policy can still wait until such time that we have adequately recovered from the pandemic,” Rivera said.