Filipino Drivers license

What could have potentially been a very bad nightmare was actually quite tolerable (but certainly not enjoyable). Ginger and I spent the morning obtaining our Philippines driver license. I have to say it was less painful than the first time I tried to obtain a drivers license in Greenwood, SC.

We had to go to a central facility in Quezon City to obtain our licenses. Since we did not know the way to get there, we had to hire a driver to help us. He drove us there in our own van which seemed odd to me but I was reassured that this was the way things worked.

Besides presenting the typical official documents such as passports and U.S licenses, we were required to obtain a medical physical and urine drug screen. And you guessed it, there are many medical offices surrounding the place just so you can obtain your required exams (at 300 pesos/person or about $5.45). The drug screen was done right there on the spot, while you wait. I didn't see them do the actual test so I am not sure it was even done. But he signed our form that we both passed without evidence of drugs (whew! what a relief).

Next was our medical exam or "medical" as the nurse kept calling it. This involved a BP check in which everyone that was in our group had the same BP measurement. There was also a weight check - I didn't ask how much you would have to weigh before you were disqualified for a license. Next was the eye exam. Knowing my eyes were not 20/20, I decided to invest in a little mental insurance and I quickly looked at the eye chart and memorized the 20/20 line just in case. Fortunately, with my glasses on, I didn't have any trouble with the vision test. If I had failed, I'll bet there was an eye doctor just around the corner ready to sell some glasses to me. Having "passed" our medical exam, we headed back to the license office where we . . .
handed in our forms then
sat down and waited then
took our picture then
sat down and waited then
paid in cash then
sat down and waited then
took our picture again then
sat down and waited then
picked up our completed license and headed for the house.
Did I mentioned it rained most of the time we were doing this.
Compared to trying to get a South Carolina driver's licence for our Kenyan friend when he came to the States, I would say this was a piece of cake.