By APIPA P. BAGUMBARAN
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (PIA) — The Land Transportation Office (LTO) remains committed to ensuring safe roads and accessible driving education for all, particularly in far-flung communities.
Nelson S. Manaloto, the regional director of LTO-10, said they have established drivers’ education centers across Northern Mindanao to facilitate the free theoretical driving course (TDC).
The TDC is a prerequisite for those applying for student driving permits, offering them the necessary knowledge and a responsible mindset for safe road usage. The course involves topics on driving laws, traffic signs, and defensive driving strategies, among others.
According to Manaloto, this course, if provided by LTO-accredited driving schools, typically costs around P1,000.
To help less privileged individuals complete the course, LTO-10 initiated several outreach programs in far-flung barangays. In 2023 alone, 11,120 individuals benefited from the said program, while from January to May 2024, the number reached 5,875.
Overall, LTO-10’s free theoretical driving course, both at the drivers’ education centers and the outreach activities, benefited 13,890 individuals in 2023 and 6,969 from January to May this year.
“If you convert it to a monetary value, if a client pays P1,000 in accredited driving schools for this course provided by LTO for free, if we convert it to cash value, it is P20.8 million. This is the amount of assistance provided to the less privileged in Northern Mindanao, particularly those in remote barangays,” Manaloto stated.
The regional director also disclosed that LTO-10 has conducted 54 road safety and defensive driving seminars in 2023 and 32 from January to May 2024, for a total of 4,609 participants.
These seminars, held in schools and transport cooperatives, aim to raise awareness about basic traffic rules and regulations, equipping drivers with the knowledge to prioritize road safety.
