Transport officials continued to push for the implementation of the Motor Vehicle Inspection System (MVIS) program which they said would ensure "roadworthiness" of vehicles that could prevent more road crashes in the country.
In a media forum on Monday, officials from the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Land Transportation Office (LTO) said the MVIS program has already been "long-delayed" as it was mapped out more than 12 years ago already.
LTO Assistant Secretary Edgar Galvante reiterated the need for Private Motor Vehicle Inspection Centers (PMVICs) in the country to ensure that all private vehicles on the road are roadworthy.
“With MVIC, ang kailangan talaga, hindi yung modelo ng sasakyan kundi its roadworthiness. Kaya malaking tulong na ma-put up natin itong MVIC para we can have the benefit of having a scientific, methodical, and very systematic checking of the roadworthiness of a vehicle," Galvante said.
(With MVIC, what we really need is not the model of the car but the its roadworthiness. That is why it is important to put uo this MBIC so we can have the benefit of having a scientific, methodical, and very systematic checking of the roadworthiness of a vehicle.)
Galvante also shed light on the difference between Private Emission Testing Centers (PETCs) and PMVICs. According to the LTO chief, the PMVIC checks all the major parts of the vehicles, while the PETC only tests emissions.
"Kapag may nakitang hindi sumusunod sa emission control na sasakyan, mabibigyan ng citation at kailangang ayusin ang sobrang smoke emission. Kapag ito ay naayos na, hindi kailangang ipa-inspect sa MVIC kundi sa PETC na lamang," he explained.
Meanwhile, operators and owners of PMVICs across the country backed Galvante's statement, saying that though the PETC is a very good program before in compliance with the Clean Air Act, this only addresses the pollution issue.
They also noted that the program is "full of human intervention" unlike in PMVICs.
The MVIS is a program of the LTO and DOTr aimed at using machines to check vehicles more intently than current systems -- to determine road worthiness of both private and public cars.
Citing data from the World Health Organization, DOTr said that at least 12,000 people in the Philippines die due to road accidents -- a majority of which were caused by poorly maintained vehicles.
According to LTO, at least 138 PMVICs are targeted by the DOTr to open nationwide. The Department has also so far issued 31 notice to operate and seven provisional authority to operators of PMVICs.