Driver’s license exam to be translated in local languages

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has directed the Land Transportation Office (LTO) to translate the driver’s license examinations into different local languages in order to make them easier to understand for more Filipinos.

In a Philippine Star report, Transportation Sec. Arthur Tugade said that the initiative aims to make the exams more comprehensible to those who cannot understand either English or Filipino.

“The written examination for driver’s license should not be limited to two languages — English and Filipino. What if they will conduct the test in Visayas and in Mindanao, and those poor countrymen of mine cannot understand Tagalog and cannot fully understand English?” he said.

The agency said among the major dialects initially eyed for the driver’s license examinations are Ilocano, Ilonggo, Bisaya, Tausug, and Bicolano.

“I instructed the LTO, all examinations shall now be done in English, Tagalog, or the local language of the examinee,” Tugade said.

According to the transport chief, the initiative is a product of a dialogue with Davao Oriental 2nd District Representative Joel Mayo Almario, who suggested that the examination questions be translated into various languages.

Directors of the LTO’s regional offices have 30 days to provide a translation of the driver’s license exam in their respective regional languages from the effectivity of the order, which is 15 days after its publication yesterday.

The agency has already formed teams to translate the exam into each of the major languages, according to LTO assistant secretary Edgar Galvante.

He said each draft translation would be validated by experts of the language.  

“We have already created a team for each of the major dialects. The assigned team will translate the driver’s license examination. The translation will be checked by experts of the language to ensure that the terms are accurate and official,” he said. – Richmond Mercurio

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