For the first time in my life, I have experienced a very funny or annoying incident (depends on your point of view, actually) while I was applying for another Student Permit in LTO last 29 June 2020.
A new Student Permit, because my 2018 permit just expired because of the red tape bureaucracy during the practical examination. I do not need to specify the details but for some of you runners there who have tried to apply for a Driver’s License, such things happen, in the Philippines.
Going back to the issue, it was the first time I have experienced someone from a government agency that my name in a legitimate document is not equivalent to my name.
In short, that government employee told me my name is not Joseph. She told me, it was JOGOPH.
Common sense should be use because in the 1970s, they use only typewriters, and I believe the letter G she wanted to insist is not applicable in any typewriter back then and common sense should also be use since the letter J is capitalized and the rest of the letters are not. Plus, she could have just look at the other small letter S’s and small letter E’s in my Birth Certificate also because most of the letters really look the same, especially, small S and small E.
Also, this issue is similar to those ignorant government employees who insisted that the Baby Boy or Baby Girl before the name in a Birth Certificate must be included as part of the name when in fact, common sense will dictate, that it is just an indicator of the sex of the new born baby during the time the document is being prepared, especially back then in the 1970s and 1980s. My wife also had her share of story for the Baby Girl issue. She even had paid around 10,000 pesos for litigation purposes only to make an Affidavit that the Baby Girl is not part of her name.
Anyway, fact of the matter is that I have travelled to several countries already, meaning, I got a passport which means my name in the passport was verified as legitimately correct.
Graduated already, had my government IDs already, even have an insurance and bank account plus stock investments under my name, Joseph.
Now, I will just leave it up to you to decide if my name is not what it is.
Just have a look at the photo, a zoomed in version of my name as it appears on my PSA authenticated Birth Certificate. I intentionally did not rotate the image.
Is this a funny incident or an annoying incident? Why? Because applying for an LTO Student Permit is not just a one -hour activity. It took me two hours for this important matter in life.
Now, why do I need to write this on a runner’s blog? Because, at my age, I’m beginning to forget things already. I might not be able to remember this untoward incident although it tested my patience level and I did and I was able to get a Student Permit. Still, a government employee informing me that my name is not what it is, is not Joseph, who would be happy about it?
I just want to look back at it again when I am in my aging years already and probably have a good laugh about it.
Also, as a runner, sometimes, we also need a ride. On a vehicle. And having a Driver’s License is a mandatory thing.