This is why we can’t have nice things. The head of the Land Transportation Office is considering scrapping its online portal after it was revealed that driver’s license applicants are cheating.
Driver’s license applicants are required to take a 5-hour long online seminar and examination through the LTO portal. But according to LTO chief Assistant Secretary Teofilo Guadiz III, around 75 to 80 percent of people taking online exams are cheating. What happens is that one person attends the online seminar, while another takes the online exam.
The information came to light when Senator Grace Poe, during a hearing of the Senate finance subcommittee, asked for a report on fixers taking the online exam, instead of the applicants themselves.
It was here where the LTO chief revealed their findings. “What we found out, Your Honor, as we go on in most of these cases, I would say 75 to 80 percent, it is another person who’s taking the seminar, it is another person who is taking the examination,” Guadiz said.
“We’re evaluating this and my inclination is just to totally abolish this portal,” he added.
See also: LTO extends driver’s license validity and car registration for one month
Guadiz, however, did acknowledge that the portal needs more security features, such as facial recognition, to minimize cheating incidents and to ensure that the applicant themselves are taking the exam.
Senator Poe later directed the LTO to submit a progress report on how they intend to fix the recent issues surrounding the online portal.
