Exactly 3 months ago, Philippines’ Land Transport Office LTO started issuing its first new biometric driver’s licenses in Metro Manila. Now that the nationwide launch of the system has been successfully completed, LTO issues 500,000 licenses per month. DERMALOG, the German innovation leader in biometrics, supplied the cards and system.
Assistant Secretary Edgar Galvante of LTO said: “We are happy that the new system is replacing the backlog of the old paper based intermediate driver´s licenses very fast and effective. LTO is confident that the full backlog will be cleared until April 2018.”
DERMALOG’s CEO Günther Mull mentioned: “We are proud that the ambitious time frame of LTO could be fulfilled. The system went live after 4 months and – with the help of LTO – the national rollout was completed within another 3 months at all 257 locations.”
With 32 security features and its fingerprint biometrics, the license is currently the most secure identification card in the Philippines. Fingerprints of each applicant are automatically checked against the central database of LTO. DERMALOG´s Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) prevents from double identities. More than 20 attempts to obtain a second driver´s license under a different name were prevented by the DERMALOG AFIS in the initial phase.
Normally the card issuing time from registration to printing is less than 10 minutes. However, “printing” is not exactly the right word. The data are now engraved by laser engraver machines into the card material, which guarantees none erasure and prevents from alteration. Furthermore, the new cards can last up to 10 years.
