Senate wants motor vehicle inspection system probed

MANILA, Philippines — The Senate has formally recommended the repeal of all orders from the Department of Transportation (DOTr) delegating the motor vehicle inspection system (MVIS) to private operators and pushed for a blue ribbon investigation of “highly anomalous transactions” surrounding the controversial system.

The Senate adopted on Monday the chamber’s public services committee’s report that cited several flaws in inspection standards, errors in test results and the lack of transparency in the accreditation of Private Motor Vehicle Inspection Centers (PMVICs).

It also approved the panel’s recommendation to allow Congress and experts to determine whether it was appropriate for the Land Transportation Office (LTO) to delegate the MVIS system to the private sector.

“Discretion cannot be left to the magnanimity of private enterprises,” Sen. Grace Poe, the committee chair, remarked as she presented the report.

At the same time, the committee urged the Senate blue ribbon panel chaired by Sen. Richard Gordon to look into the selection and accreditation of PMVICs.

“The questionable issuances seem to have created a favorable environment for an oligopoly where only very few players can enter and succeed,” it said.

“The inexplicable dark moments during the evaluation process and lack of transparency in the eventual accreditation of winning service providers bear badges of fraud which should be further investigated by the appropriate committee,” it added.

Policy ‘altered’

Among the panel’s findings was that the policy was “altered” to allow DOTr and LTO employees to own a PMVIC “as long as [they were] not part of the accreditation committee.”

It was also said that PMVICs were only charged an annual licensing fee of P50,000 for each center despite a projected income of P40 million.

“The anomalies surrounding the rollout of PMVICs far outweigh its good intention of uplifting road safety. If we turn a blind eye to the irregularities now, motorists will shoulder this burden for years to come,” Poe said.

If the Motor Vehicle User’s Fund had been used to finance the construction of PMVICs instead of privatizing it, the government could have generated more income and become less of a burden to motorists, she added.

In Committee Report No. 184, the panel identified several problems with the privatization of the MVIS, including the lack of consultation and transparency, glitches in the system and incompatibility with the LTO’s IT infrastructure.

“While fees have been lowered for now and testing seems to have been made optional, the implementation of this flawed program must be stopped definitively pending the resolution of issues hounding it,” it added.

The report further detailed the various concerns that had “exacerbated motorists’ plight.”