Car registration at the LTO in under one hour

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Yes, in under one hour! Four years ago, I finished renewing my car's registration in under two hours. But this year is the record breaker: I was able to finish renewing my car's registration in 45 minutes. I was amazed at the streamlined process! I just have to thank the efficient staff at the Land Transportation Office's (LTO) Calamba Satellite Office!

So here's what happened:

1515H: I arrived at the LTO and was directed by a security guard to a nearby certified car emission
             testing centre (a few metres away from the LTO). I was told to hurry up to reach the cut-off
             time.

1535H: I finished the car emission test, purchased a compulsory third-party liability insurance policy,
             and one of the emission guys finished stenciling the car's engine information.

1546H: An inspection officer assessed my car's headlights, taillights, brake lights, signal lights, and
             horn. Then I was told to proceed to the registration payment area.

1555H: I paid the registration fees and received the car's updated documents.

1600H: I attached the car's 2016 registration sticker and left the LTO parking lot.

Well, I think going to the LTO after peak hours helped a lot because there were only four people registering their vehicles that time. And it would be highly questionable why service is slow if there are only a handful of clients, right? But here's the thing: the LTO-Calamba has started recording what time I started the process and were marking the time I finished each step. The time record allows the LTO management to see the bottlenecks of the car registration system. And it makes the client feel like the LTO-Calamba is really doing its best to further improve its services.

I hope that licence renewal and other services are also this efficient.

Congratulations, LTO-Calamba! I hope that the other LTO branches are also this good.

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