SEVEN queues in fact. At the LTO applying for the RFID - Radio Frequency Indentification Device - Aunty Glo's latest cunning ploy to separate the motorist from his hard earned cash.
Ah, says the LTO, this electronic roadside spy will knock carnapping on the head, eyeball bad guys fleeing the scene and rid our streets of part time taxis. Coming from an agency which never has any ordinary registration stickers available - as on the day Land Transportation Chief Arturo Lumibao was pumping up the RFID sceme - does anyone believe that?
Anbyway, come next registration day there'll be another documentary requirement, an RFID sticker release receipt. It costs P350, there's no forms to fill in but you will have to fall in line at seven different queues. Look on the bright side, seven new pals to pass the time of day with.
Queue #1: As for ordinary registration a set of engine and body number stencils are required. Gone are the days when I'll crawl under my SUV (Scarcely Used vehicle) and so I go to the LTO depot on Quimpo Boulevard opposite SM Mall. Here the LTO guy will fill in the blue form, instruct a mechanic to stencil engine and body numbers and stamp the rubber stamps. All for free and the Ecoland LTO depot is almost always empty.
Queue #2: A second confirming signature is required and this I obtained from the lady lawyer who lives in a small office at the rear of the downtown LTO building (Apologies lady attorney, I've mislaid your name).
Queue #3: Present your paperwork at the receiving window and in exchange receive a chit and instructions to turn up at the “releasing window” in three hours. This is LTO-speak for come back tomorrow (Wednesday).
Queue #4: Present your chit at the “releasing” window in exchange for your paperwork and permission to pay.
Queue #5: The cashier.
Queue #6: Present your paperwork at the RFID station - on the day I was there a mob surrounding a young lady at a computer console. Your RFID sticker will be processed and handed not to you but to an “Authorised RFID Tagging Assistant”, a guy garbed in a mustard yellow t-shirt.
Queue #7: It's this fellow's job to stick the sticker on your auto's windshield, never mind where you're parked and no, the LTO doesn't trust you to stick it on yourself.
And that's it. The RFID 7-stop-shop. Simple really. And it shouldn't take more that a full working day.
While we're at the LTO, the next time you go for annual registration there'll be an extra documentary requirement - your TIN card. Why this bit of bureaucracy is required no-one seems to know but is, no doubt, in line with Aunty Glo's avowed intent to cut down on red tape.
Ho, ho, ho.