My parents asked me to renew the registration of our family car on the last day of renewal last week. Since I use the car the most (and I needed their permission to drive it to Subic the next day, hehe), I felt obligated to do it, despite the fact that I had other things in mind to do for that day, and that it was quite a hassle to have me do it on the deadline itself.
I was expecting to spend a few hours at the main Land Transportation Office (LTO) here in Diliman, but I ended up spending the entire afternoon figuring myself through and following the process.
I felt so naive and clueless. Nakakaloko siya since I felt like I was the only one legitimately going through the process of registration. Why? First, everyone in line knew each other, and they all seemed to be in line to register multiple vehicles each, and, hindi sa nangmamata ako ng kapwa, pero hindi naman sila mukhang may-ari ng maraming kotse. It would seem like they also knew the man behind the cashier. Some of them were even cutting in line. It seemed to me that I was the only one intensely annoyed having to go through everything while everyone else was acting as if it’s just a normal day in the park. I was thinking they were probably ‘professional’ LTO transactors/registrants whom anyone may just contact to have their LTO papers processed, so as to avoid having to go through hours of lines and dozens of bureaucratic procedures. It’s probably legitimate, I don’t know. Had I known there was such a legitimate scheme, I would have availed of it anyway.
It felt a little troubling how the need for such ‘professional transactors’ arises from the conduct of a government service. Not that I’m surprised.
law student, national democracy activist, film school graduate, photography hobbyist
A similar service is available for the acquiring birth certificates from the NSO. It’s called “Pakisuyo Center” here in our corner of Cavite.
It’s strange that you’ve not encountered any “fixers” at the LTO, or you just didn’t mention them?
I feel for you. Actually there are a lot of agencies/people who offer services where they register your car for you for a service free and they are legit.
i can emphatize with you. good that here in Dasmarinas, Cavite we have a jhya mentioned the pakisuyo center. this innovative busines is making their name in all corners of cavite because they really help busy people like us. they are legitimate and with professional riders and liaison officers. i remember last year when my mom called them at pinapick up yung baon ng sis ko na naiwan pagpasok sa school. kakatuwa, their rider with red shirt appeared right in our doorsteps and zoom ..delivered it to the school. what a business! actually they also call themselves as utusan ng bayan. my neighbor even asked them to process her docs with CHED and it was done accurately and fast daw. ikinompare ang rate nila sa ibang agencies naku halos 50% daw difference kasi sa pakisuyo center very minimal daw halos 1/4 lang nung ibang agencies.
my mom told me na kaya daw itinayo nung may ari yung pakisuyo center because she (teh owner) herself experienced red tape. with very very bad experience daw kaya in her desire to combat these type of misdoings she was able to conceptualize a business tulad ng errand center nila.that bad exeperience resulted to be a great help to people like us na sobrang busy sa work.
alam ko even mla people calls them to process their errands. specialization yata nila eh business documents but they also have other pakisuyo services. better that we deal with such legitimate entities even with a service fee kaysa sa mga fixers na nasa kapaligiran n g government offices na kapag palpak ang ipinagawa mo eh fly by night na…maghabok ka sa tambol mayor. at least with pakisuyo center eh sure ka na merong licensia at may permanenteng opisina. sabi ng mom ko dami na daw clients ng business na ito… siguro dahil maganda objective nila but of course siempre sila yung una sa ocncept na ganito.
the people that you saw sa LTO malamang mga fixers yun and lets not deal with such kind of people kasi sila ang pinagsisimulan ng corruption. i know how it feels to wait and line up for so long…. kakabuwisit na talaga so kahit mag pay na lang wag lang masira ang araw natin! Hay kakaiba talaga anoh… only in the Philippines!