BAGUIO CITY – The Cordillera office of the Land Transportation Office (LTO-CAR) and the Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB) will be headed by newly installed officers assigned by the central office of the Department of Transportation and Railways (DOTR) to ensure the efficient and effective delivery of their services to Cordillerans.
LTO Director for Law Enforcement Services Francis Ray Almora assumed the position of LTO-CAR regional director and officer-in-charge of the DOTR-CAR while Engr. Lalaine Sobrimonte was designated as the LTFRB-CAR regional director.
DOTR Undersecretary for Transportation and Infrastructure Mark Richmond de Leon and LTO Assistnt Secretary Egard Galvante presided over the twin turnover ceremony that paved the way for the much awaited changing of the guards in both the LTO and LTFRB.
Almora, who is a true-blooded Cordilleran, said that it is high time for LTO to elevate its services to a higher level in the region pursuant to the marching orders of higher authorities so that such improved services will result to better client satisfaction.
He also solicited the uncompromising support of stakeholders to the programs, projects and activities of the LTO and the DOTR to prove to their cricits that Cordillerans are not disorganized as earlier perceived of them by outsiders.
“Let us work hard to elevate our services to a higher level so that we will be able to prove our critics wrong. Let us try to embrace the needed change for us to be able to achieve our goals and objectives in rendering quality services to our clients,” Director Almora stressed.
After serving as administrative officer of the Cordillera office of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH-CAR), Almora served in LTO Region I before being assigned in the LTO central office as Director for Law Enforcement Services.
Undersecretary de Leon said that the newly assigned heads of offices in the region will not be congratulated because they have just assumed their posts, thus, they have still to prove themselves in the effective and efficient discharge of their assigned duties and responsibilities in their respective offices.
For his part, Assistant Secretary Galvante asserted the need for the continuous cooperation between LTO officials and employees and the stakeholders for the agency to be able to achieve the desired upliftment in the level of the services being rendered to their clients who frequent their different district offices to transact businesses.
Almora urged stakeholders to bring to his attention the issues and concerns that need appropriate action so that he will look into the matter and act on the same the soonest as part of the government’s thrust of providing the people quality services.
He claimed that it will not be difficult for him to adjust to his new position because he is familiar with the situation in the region being a Cordilleran and that he will be hitting the ground going once he will assume his position for the benefit of the people living in the different parts of the region.
Among the responsibilities of the LTO is the issuances of licenses to drivers and the reregistration of motor vehicles, private or public.
By Dexter A. See