Senate strongly condemns ‘revival’ of MVIS, sets conditions for DOTr

MANILA, Philippines — The Senate adopted on Tuesday a resolution “strongly condemning” the “revival” of mandatory motor vehicle testing by private centers (MVIS), saying this was a “blatant disregard” of the chamber’s earlier objection to it.

During the plenary session, the Senate approved a still unnumbered resolution, which also noted President Rodrigo Duterte’s previous order making the MVIS non-mandatory for motorists in the process of car registration.

“It’s important that we ratify this because as you know, even if we have the committee report that we already agreed upon, sometimes, other departments will just go ahead after a few months and go back to their old style of reimplementing something that we already objected to,” said Senator Grace Poe, chairperson of the Senate public services committee.

Last March, the Senate adopted a committee report from Poe’s panel recommending the official repeal of a Department of Transportation (DOTr) order and all related issuances delegating the MVIS to private operators.

Poe earlier slammed the “resurgence” of Private Motor Vehicle Inspection Centers (PMVICs), which, according to her, have led to long lines without social distancing amid the threat of the more transmissible COVID-19 Delta variant.

“[T]he sudden revival of the mandatory nature of PMVIC testing has brought chaos and overcrowding in inspection centers leading to the violation of social distancing and health protocols,” the Senate resolution read.

On Tuesday morning, DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade ordered the Land Transportation Office to temporarily stop the implementation of a recent memorandum directing all its regional offices to adopt the mandatory PMVIC testing.

Poe said this development brings “quite a relief to our countrymen.”

Still, the senator said the DOTr should address several conditions stated in the adopted Senate resolution.

According to Poe, these conditions include being “transparent about the selection process of those that were given a concession agreement for the MVIS.”

The DOTr, she said, should also ensure that prices for MVIS testing “would be low.”

Furthermore, the department should increase the number of PMVICs “before they make this the norm of having tests done in those centers” since it would be “quite premature to implement [the MVIS] fully” without enough facilities, added the senator.

“A resolution from the Senate just cements the fact that we object unless all of those conditions are addressed,” Poe said.

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