The Land Transportation Office will begin to roll out licenses this October with 10 years validity to those motorists with no traffic violations as announced by Secretary Art Tugade of the Department of Transportation.
According to DOTr, this measure is to encourage motorists to observe road safety to significantly reduced road accidents. Motorists with clean records are eligible to have 10-year valid licenses. This will serve as an incentive to drivers not to break any traffic laws.
However, LTO also rolling out a demerit system to discourage motorists from road violations. It is divided into three categories depending on its gravity:
| First Category | Grave violations with five demerit points | Ex. motor vehicle in committing a crime |
| Second Category | Less grave with three demerit points, | Ex. driving a public utility vehicle without a valid franchise or driving under the influence of alcohol or illegal substances |
| Third Category | Light violations with one demerit point | Ex. first-time violation of some road laws. |
But according to LTO Assistant Secretary Edgar Galvante, if the violation is under the second category but is committed repeatedly, it would eventually fall under the grave violations. These demerits, he said, would accumulate for the duration of the person’s driver’s license validity and may result in fines, penalties, or more severe sanctions.
On the other hand, Secretary Tugade said that licenses now are not papers but already cards because they don’t have any more backlogs in the LTO, thanks to the hard work of the LTO under ASec Edgar Galvante. If you remember the paper receipt they are giving before you can get your license card? Well, that is the thing of the past because right now you can get the license card right away.