LTO eyes permanent bldg. for regional office

Land Transportation Office (LTO) 7 Director Victor Emmanuel Caindec said yesterday that the agency will work for the construction of a permanent office in Cebu City.

LTO 7 currently holds office on N. Bacalso Ave., near the Cebu South Bus Terminal and the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) 7.

LTO, however, will soon have to leave the place because the Cebu City Government has other plans for the area.

LTO 7 Assistant Director Alita Pulga said they are requesting the City Government to extend their stay while they look for a place to transfer.

Vacate

In 2015, the City, through former mayor Michael Rama, asked LTO 7 to vacate the lot they are occupying so it can be used as an extension of the Cebu City Medical Center, which is temporarily operating in the compound of the BFP and the old office of the City Traffic Operations Management.

LTO has asked for an extension from the City twice until they can find a new place.

In May last year, then LTO 7 director Arnel Tancinco said they were still waiting for the budget from the Department of Transportation for the construction of their new office.

In an interview, Assistant Secretary Edgar Galvante, LTO chief, said that constructing a permanent and decent regional office and district offices in Cebu remains part of their programs.

“In fact, we wish that a government agency will donate lot or enter into a long-term usurfruct agreement where we can construct a decent and permanent LTO building,” he said.

Donate

Galvante also said that they can construct buildings for district offices if a local government unit decides to donate lots for them in the different cities and municipalities.

He said LTO has been setting up driver’s license renewal center (DLRC) offices in malls due to their lack of offices.

“The inconvenience now is that the DLRCs are overcrowded and the district offices are left with less renewal of license,” Galvante said. /