Sen. Christopher Go (Photo from his office)
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go reaffirmed on Monday his support for the further review of the motor vehicle inspection system (MVIS) of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) to ensure that there would be no additional burned on Filipino motorists during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to a statement, Go reassured also his colleagues in a manifestation at the Senate that President Rodrigo Duterte was listening to the opinions and recommendations of legislators and the general public.
He pointed out that the president ordered the suspension of the inspection scheme last February to allow the LTO to study and address the issues raised by various stakeholders.
“To the sponsor, Sen. Grace Poe, and — with due respect to my fellow Batangueño — Sen. Ralph Recto, it’s not a rare occasion for the president to listen. The president always listens, especially when its the interest of the country and the majority that’s at stake,” Go said, speaking partly in Filipino.
“It was brought up by Madame Grace before, and the executive, President Dterte, agreed. He did not want make things difficult for Filipinos, especially since there are many complaints about this [the MVIS],” he added.
As a member of the Senate Committee on Public Services, Go called on Transport Secretary Authur Tugade to address the concerns raised by legislators about the MVIS implementation.
On July 5, the Department of Transportation issued a memorandum circular that makes it mandatory for light vehicles and motorcycles to be inspected by a Private Motor Vehicle Inspection Center (PMVIC) as a requirement for registration in the LTO office falling within the center’s jurisdiction.
The circular also directed all LTO offices to only accept Motor Vehicle Inspection Reports from authorized PMVICs within their jurisdiction.
“I am urging Secretary Tugade to explain this, why it was implemented immediately,” Go said.
“The bottomline here is that we are in the middle of a pandemic. The situation is different now. Let us not make it hard for our countrymen,” Go said.
“The issue of the GAOR — or the Geographical Area of Responsibility — I talked with one regional director and he said that some would travel as far as 150 kilometers just to have [their vehicle] before they have it tested because the scope of this [GAOR] is so big,” he added.
He then stressed that the requirement should not be made mandatory at the moment.
Go clarified, however, that it was still important to ensure the roadworthiness of vehicles.