Getting our Driver's licenses

On Monday, June 6th, we went to the main office downtown to get our driver’s licenses. You can drive in the Philippines on a US license for 2-3 months, and then legally you must get a Philippines license. It is intimidating because no one can tell you what to expect, since the process is never the same. So the night before we had studied a driver’s test in case we needed to take a written test, and we were prepared to drive the course to prove that we were capable drivers.

When we got to the office, they asked for our passports and US licenses. After looking them over, they told us to go around the corner of the building to get them photocopied. When we came back with the paid-for photocopies, they told us we needed to go to get a physical and drug test at a center down the street. We must have looked pretty lost as we discussed their directions because the man at the desk assigned us a helper… “at no additional cost.” It was a good thing too! The drug testing and physical place ended up being a tiny hole in the wall joint in a back alley about two blocks away from the office.

We stopped first for the drug test. My main word for the whole experience is GROSS! The place was so swelteringly hot that sweat was just pouring off me. Then they handed us little containers that were definitely not sterile. In fact, they had been previously used, had been rinsed out at the sink in the corner without any soap, and were only slightly larger than a shot glass. We were told to pee in them in one of the dirtiest bathrooms I have been to in Manila.

Then we were ushered to the room where they give the physicals. Thankfully it was not a full physical. There was an air conditioner mounted in the corner, futilely trying to cool the 12’x15’ room. Meanwhile, there were so many people coming in and out, that the door was constantly open. A big hole had been knocked in the wall to connect the room with another office…only you had to step over two feet of wall to step into the other office. There were about 15 people in the room waiting for their physicals, and we were very promptly hurried through each stage of the process; blood pressure check, getting weighed, and then an eye exam. The stream of people coming in never slowed down.

When we were finished, our helper escorted us back to the main office where we waited, got our pictures taken, waited, got our pictures taken again, waited, paid for our drivers licenses, waited, got handed our licenses, and then asked if we would give an evaluation of the whole process to a lady who works for another branch of the government.

All in all, we were very pleased that the whole process took us only two hours. We spent an hour and a half just driving the 11 miles to get to the office.

Finally, I have to mention some of the funny things that were part of the written driving test we studied for.
1. You should not honk your horn near a blind person.
2. When you come around a corner with limited visibility you should flash your lights.
3. When you approach produce on the road, you should yield and go around it. ie rice