DOTr, LTO told: Review, find ‘defects’ in child car seat law, MVIS implementation
MANILA, Philippines — Several senators on Thursday called on transport authorities to review and find “defects” in the implementation of the Child Safety in Motor Vehicles Act and the privatized Motor Vehicle Inspection System (MVIS).
This, after President Rodrigo Duterte deferred the implementation of the law and declared non-mandatory the MVIS.
The implementation of law and the MVIS were both the subject of an inquiry in the Senate earlier this week.
“In light of the President’s order, I call on the leadership of the DOTr (Department of Transportation) and LTO (Land Transportation Office) to officially suspend the implementation of their issuances on the privatized MVIS immediately pending thorough review and stakeholder consultation,” Senator Grace Poe, who led the Senate inquiry as chair of the public services committee, said in a statement.
Poe, who welcomed Duterte’s recent directive on the MVIS, noted that the DOTr and the LTO issued issuances authorizing private motor vehicle inspections centers (PMVICs) to collect an inspection fee of P1,800 from motor vehicles weighing 4,500 kilograms or less and another P900 in case it fails the first inspection.
Motorcycles and tricycles, on the other hand, are charged a P600 inspection fee and P300 reinspection fee, if necessary.
“The fees were set by the Department and LTO’s own issuances,” Poe said.
“A temporary suspension of fees only begs the question: Why do motorists need to shoulder the burden of the new system?” he added.
“By all means, just as the DOTr insists that it is within its powers to set this whole PMVIC running, it is also within its power to address the issue of cost and all other issues hounding the privatized MVIS,” she further said.
Senators have earlier called for the temporary suspension of PMVIC operations amid questions of legality on privatizing the MVIS.
“The issues on legality of the privatization of MVIS, lack of consultation and transparency in the accreditation of inspection centers, inadequate number of inspection centers in operation, glitches in the system, and the overall incompatibility of PMVICs with LTO’s own IT system and the landscape of motor vehicles in the country, all remain unresolved without decisive action from the Department,” Poe went on.
While she acknowledged the MVIS’ intention to make all vehicles roadworthy, the senator said this “must be done properly according to procedure and with more reasonable parameters.”
“We all want safer roads but not at the expense of burdening the motoring public,” she added.
Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, for his part, urged transport officials to now “look under the hood” of the implementing rules of the child car seat law and the MVIS and “find out which are its defects.”
“The lesson here is that before you ram through a rule that will force the people to pay, be sure to run it by the President first.
Hindi pwede ang fast and furious way of implementing new regulations,” Recto said in a separate statement.
“Never pull a fast one. If you are in the executive branch, remember that you as a spring cannot rise above the source, which in this case is the office by the Pasig River,” he added.
Senator Joel Villanueva echoed the sentiments of his colleagues as he lauded the President’s decision to defer the implementation of the child car seat law.
“Mabuti at sinita ng Pangulo. Siya naman talaga po ang ating traffic enforcer-in-chief. Marami pong matutuwa na hindi n’ya pinalusot ito,” he said.
“Now let us take advantage of the pause ordered by the President to perfect their implementation, to remove whatever unnecessary burden they impose on the people, while ensuring that the objectives of road and child safety will still be met,” Villanueva added.
