Senators are convinced there is sufficient basis to suspend the operations of all Private Motor Vehicle Inspection Centers (PMVICs) at this time.
At the hearing of the Senate Committee on Public Services on Tuesday, February 9, Sen. Grace Poe said the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Land Transportation Office (LTO) should have prioritized public utility vehicles over private ones if the government is bent on promoting road safety and prevent vehicular accidents.
Poe, chair of the Senate public services panel, pointed out that it is public vehicles that are usually involved in “wholesale road mishaps” than private vehicles.
“Hindi malinaw sa akin ngayon kung bakit ninyo inuna pa rin ang private vehicles, para sabihin na para padaliin sa public vehicles, kaya inuna ninyo ang private vehicles? Anong klaseng dahilan yan (It’s not clear to me why you have to prioritized private vehicles to say you want to make it easier for public vehicles, that’s why you targeted private vehicles first? What kind of argument is that?),” Poe told Giovanni Lopez, assistant secretary for procurement and project implementation of DoTR.
She also questioned why PMVICs were only required to pay the government merely P100,000 for their annual fee, as DOTr assistant secretary for Road Transport and Infrastructure Mark Steven Pastor told the committee.
“I think that we are all unanimous here that we really need to suspend this and just go to the emission testing that we currently have,” Poe said during the hearing.
Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, who earlier filed Senate Resolution No. 638 calling for the suspension of the PMVIC operations, also lamented how the implementing agencies did not consider the purchasing power parity of Filipinos who are now reeling in the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Recto pointed this out after the DOTr official attempted to justify the cost of the testing fees that range from P1,800 for light vehicles, P600 for motorcycles and P300 for public utility vehicles, with a PowerPoint presentation showing the cost of motor vehicle inspection fees in other countries such as South Korea and China.
“That’s why I am asking if these figures were supported by the NEDA (National Economic Development Authority)? Because when you make a presentation like this, you are not taking into consideration the purchasing power parity…that is not up your alley,” Recto told the DOTr official.
“We are a poorer country than Singapore, Japan, South Korea and China. If we use purchasing power parity, that figures will change dramatically,” he pointed out.
Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon agreed with Recto and also pointed out that the motor vehicles inspection system has no legal basis since there is no specific law that authorizes its implementation.
“I think there is sufficient basis for this committee to urge the LTO and the DOTr to suspend the motor vehicles inspection system…I would like to point out the lack of any legal basis and in fact, this may be contrary to law, what LTO and DOTr are doing,” Drilon said.
“(Recto) asked what law authorizes the MVI system. My mind quickly searched for answers, there is none, Sen. Recto. This is authorized only under LTO memorandum circular 2020-2240,” Drilon pointed out.