Tugade orders LTO to hold implementation of mandatory PMVIC testing

Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade on Tuesday ordered the Land Transportation Office (LTO) to temporarily hold the implementation of a memorandum directing all regional offices to adopt the mandatory Private Motor Vehicle Inspection Centers (PMVICs) testing within their geographic areas of responsibility (GAOR).

The said LTO memorandum, dated August 4, 2021, was adopted as the subsequent result of Memorandum SC 2021-02 or the Implementation of Geographic Areas of Responsibility (GAOR) for the registration of light vehicles and motorcycles, issued last July 5, 2021.

In her privilege speech, Senator Grace Poe slammed the reimplementation of mandatory PMVIC testing amid the pandemic “at the height of a more transmissible variant, where a number of PMVICs per area are once again filled with long lines without social distancing.”

With this, Tugade said he directed the LTO to conduct an immediate and exhaustive review of the policy.  

The Transportation chief also ordered the LTO to maintain the previous registration process where motorists can choose between a PMVIC and a Private Emission Testing Center (PETC) for the required vehicle inspection. 

In the present setup, motor vehicle owners in areas not under the GAOR may still choose to have their vehicles undergo emission testing at a PETC, and roadworthiness inspection at an LTO office. 

Further, ocular roadworthiness inspection for heavy vehicles — gross weight vehicle is equal to 4501 kgs and above — are done by LTO personnel, and emission testing by the PETC, within the same GAOR.

Citing reports, Poe said that almost all regions are now covered by GAOR where PMVIC testing is mandatory in almost all regions except for Cordillera Administrative Region, CARAGA and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Tugade said he recognizes the need for a smoother and more efficient manner of implementation of the GAOR policy, while also taking into consideration the current COVID-19 situation which hampers the required vehicle registration process. 

In listening to the inputs of various stakeholders in the PMVIC program, the Transportation chief called for sobriety and unity to address the issues and concerns regarding this very important road transport policy of enhancing vehicle roadworthiness inspection. 

“In order to keep our roads safe, the DOTr believes we need to have better standards to check the roadworthiness of vehicles,” Tugade said.

“This is the principal reason why we are continuously advocating the conduct of strict inspection of motor vehicles,” he said.

Unroadworthy vehicles remain as death traps, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) chief said.

“And as one of the crucial factors to enhancing road safety, ensuring the roadworthiness of vehicles cannot be postponed,” he said.

With regard to the scope of inspection, PMVICs conduct 72-point full roadworthiness test for vehicles, including emission test, unlike in PETCs, where only the smoke emission is being tested, and not roadworthiness.

In order to not impose any additional fee to vehicle owners, the DOTr was able to convince PMVIC owners to lower their inspection rate from P1,500 to P600 for light vehicles, and P500 for motorcycles, which are similar to rates collected by a PETC. 

Reinspection or retest fees were likewise waived.

Citing the legal opinion of the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) dated March 18, 2021, the DOTr said the OSG said that the DOTr and LTO have authority to ensure the roadworthiness of vehicles and consequently implement the motor vehicle inspection system (MVIS). 

The Administrative Code of 1987 and Executive Order 125-A allows DOTr to call on any corporation or organization, whether public or private, to participate and assist in the implementation of transportation programs. 

The OSG further clarified that the DOTr is not delegating an already delegated authority to the private sector, according to the Transportation department.

Rather, DOTr and LTO are seeking the assistance of the private sector in the implementation of the MVIS, and that the government remains responsible for roadworthiness testing, it said.

According to OSG, the DOTr noted that the MVIS is only outsourced, operated under a private sector participation agreement, but the government still has direct control and supervision of the roadworthiness testing and motor vehicle registration.

Though roadworthiness is not the cure-all for road crashes, it is one of the pillars of road safety, the DOTr said.

Tugade said he acknowledges that there will be birth pains with the PMVIC policy but he has stressed that what is important is to ensure that a long-term and more modern and most effective vehicle inspection system is in place.

The safety and well-being of the motoring public is still the overriding priority, he said. —KG, GMA News