CEBU CITY -- At least 24 public utility vehicles (PUVs) failed roadworthiness inspections as the Land Transportation Office-Central Visayas (LTO-7) rolled out its ‘Oplan Biyaheng Ayos: Semana Santa and Summer Vacation 2023.’
LTO-7 started inspecting PUVs on Friday, March 31. As of Monday, April 3, a total of 206 PUVs in the different terminals in the region have been inspected.
Personnel of the Land Transportation Office-Central Visayas inspect a public utility vehicle as part of the "Oplan Biyaheng Ayos: Semana Santa and Summer Vacation 2023."(Contributed photo)
LTO-7 director Victor Emmanuel Caindec revealed that the majority of those that failed the inspection were public utility buses.
Caindec said LTO-7’s Operations Division, headed by Aden Belza, ordered 24 PUVs to return to their garage and fix their defects.
Those that failed the inspection can only resume plying once the defects of their vehicles are corrected, said Caindec.
Caindec said the common defects were worn-out tires, defective signal lights, a non-functioning wiper/washer, a broken windshield, and a defective seatbelt device.
"We are in the different PUV terminals in the region and as always during long holidays such as these, our Oplan team will check every PUV that goes through the terminal before they can accept passengers," said Caindec.
Of the 24 PUVs that failed the inspection, 15 were buses and nine were public utility vans.
"No issuance yet of anything for both the drivers and operators, so that we can give them more time to correct their defects. Likewise, our random inspections will continue even outside these terminals so that we can monitor if they are still compliant with roadworthiness," said Caindec.
Caindec added that the LTO Central Command Center hotline 134-2568 is available 24 hours and seven days a week.
“Oplan Biyaheng Ayos will continue until Monday, April 10.