Licenses, Authorizations, etc....Part 1

ever since i can remember, i have always been fascinated by licenses. maybe it started when i first saw a james bond film in the 60's.... wherein agent 007 is "licensed to kill"! for me then, having such a license conjured images of power, authority, and expertise .....my interest in licenses, though, is less extreme ....and even though i may have a "license to kill"....i don't think i'll be using it!!! anyway......

the dictionary defines a license as "a permission granted by competent authority to engage in a business or occupation or in an activity otherwise unlawful". this permission doesn't come easy. usually, one gets a license after a certain time of study, a period of practice under supervision, then a qualifying examination to determine one's capability.

the very first time i did something towards getting a license was when i applied to for a student's permit to drive in 1979. unlike in the US, getting a student permit here is easy....i didn't have to take any exam.... i just showed my birth certificate to show that i am of age..... it was the driving lessons that was hard!!! i had to take lessons from Diko.... and we all know that taking driving lessons from a family member is the worst..... he panics and shouts when i make mistakes.... that's why i stopped learning to drive from him. two years later, when i was in Minnesota, i applied for a student permit. this time, i had to take a written exam.... which i passed.... before i was given the permit. it stopped there, however; i wasn't able to take driving lessons from my friends because i had no car to drive!!! the next time i tried to get lessons was from a friend when i got back home from japan. this experienced turned out to be very similar to my experience with diko.... that i finally decided to lessons from a driving school. those guys at the school were a lot different from family members & friends! they talked calmly and were so cool that they didn't even panic even though i almost bumped car, posts, pedestrians in front of me!!!! (later, i found out that the car we used for lessons also had a break pedal in the front passenger side where the instructor sat!!!) nevertheless, i did learn how to drive.

in 1992, i, together with an officemate, took the driving exams at the EDSA Land Transportation Office (LTO). we both didn't have a car to drive....we rented an LTO employee's owner jeep....and we both passed.... i finally had my driver's license!!! the problem is, i didn't have any vehicle to drive..... so, it turned out that i was "a license without driving" instead of "driving without a license!!!" hahahahaha.... in 1995, i finally had my own car (a company car) to drive.... and i've been driving ever since.

today, i went to the Makati City LTO to renew my non-professional driver's license. i was there at 7:40 am in the hope that i would be the first in line when it opens at 8:00 am.... when i arrived at the LTO, i was the only applicant around.... and since it was a bit warm, i stayed for a while inside my air conditioned car. at ten minutes to 8:00, i proceeded to the license application window....and there was another guy already in line ....i ended up second in line!!! it didn't matter, though, i was able to finish the urine drug testing (P250.00); a very rapid medical examination (P50.00); the picture-taking and the payment of the fee (P247.50); ....and get my new license at 9:20 am.... i was home by 10:00 am...... it would've been earlier had the cashier's pc been online earlier!!!

i have always enjoyed having my license renewed at the Makati LTO. Before the advent of computerization, it used to take 2 months to have the driver's license. they used to give a temporary driver's license, which you use to redeem the actual driver's license card 2 months later. when they started intituting computerization, i used to get my license in 15 minutes. now that they made urine drug testing and medical exam mandatory, it took me more than 15 minutes but less than an hour - except when the cashier is off-line such as today.

for me, having a license says that i am a responsible and competent man!!!