PRIVATE motor vehicle inspection centers have not been ordered to stop their operations but the mandatory inspection of motor vehicles at PMVICs remain suspended.
This was the clarification issued yesterday by Land Transportation Office chief Edgar Galvante in response to claims made by Sen. Grace Poe last Wednesday that her office has received information that some PMVICs in some provinces have resumed mandatory motor vehicle inspections despite the Transportation Department’s standing suspension order.
“The operation of PMVICs is not suspended. They can still operate. Only the mandatory inspection from PMVICs is suspended, and implementation of geographic areas of responsibility (GAORs). Meaning, in areas with PMVIC, the people still have the freedom to choose from PMVIC or PETC to have their vehicle inspected before it will be registered with LTO,” Galvante said.
Last August, Transport Secretary Arthur Tugade directed all regional LTO offices to suspend the mandatory inspection and testing of vehicles at PMVICs and ordered the suspension of mandatory vehicle testing within geographic areas of responsibility (GAORs).
Galvante said vehicle owners might have misinterpreted the LTO’s rollout of a new information technology system linking PMVICs with LTO offices that aims to optimize the agency’s Motor Vehicle Inspection and Registration System (MVIRS) as a return of the mandatory vehicle inspections at PMVICs.
“The new IT system rolled out by the LTO called the Land Transportation Management System (LTMS) not only intends to optimize the use of the MVIRS, but also aims to gather sufficient baseline data to assess the status of motor vehicles in the country in terms of roadworthiness and safety,” he explained.
According to the LTO, on the average, 35,000 vehicles are registered daily. Before the implementation of the new IT system, data from PMVICs only accounted for 5% or 1,800 daily transactions. — Noel Talacay
