After weeks of uncertainty, the Land Transportation Office expects its issuance of driver's licenses to finally get back to normal before the end of this week.

 

LTO head Virginia Torres said Wednesday the normalization of operations following a row over an unauthorized redesign of the license is now 83 percent complete.

 

"It's 83 percent (complete for) the whole Philippines. I'm expecting 100-percent (normalization) within the week," Torres said in an interview on dzBB radio.

 

She said affected motorists will have their penalties waived since what happened was not their fault.

 

But she also hinted the LTO may have the contractor, Amalgamated Motors Philippines Inc., shoulder the penalties.

 

"(We) may require AMPI to pay all these penalties," she said.

 

Earlier this month, the LTO suspended the issuance of drivers' licenses due to a surprise design change by AMPI.

 

The LTO said it would issue temporary licenses and waive penalties for license applicants as it continues to sort out the mess.

 

Torres also said she has ordered the supplier to immediately revert to the old features.

 

As of Tuesday, at least four offices of the LTO in Metro Manila still cannot issue driver’s licenses, though Metro Manila head Teofilo Guadiz III said the other offices under him have started normalizing their operations. –KG, GMA News