Move to privatize LTO vehicle inspection system opposed

Piston partylist. MATIKAS SANTOS/ INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines – A driver’s  group on Saturday opposed the proposed privatization of the Land Transportation Office’s (LTO) Motor Vehicle Inspection System (MVIS).

The statement from Piston came after Transportation and Communications Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said his department was considering the privatization of the MVIS following a series of fatal road accidents.

Piston National President George San Mateo said the privatization of the MVIS would only increase the fees paid by motorists since it would no longer be a government service.

San Mateo refuted the claim of Abaya that the government could no longer maintain the MVIS.

He said LTO was the fourth largest government agency revenue earner even though it was not a revenue-earning in orientation.

He added that privatizing  was not the solution  in cutting graft and corruption and  in ensuring efficiency in the implemenation of  MVIS.

He said the privatization would only benefit the cronies of the Aquino government who may be interested to bid for the project.

The Department of Labor and Employment, he said, should review the difficult working condition of drivers to avoid fatal road accidents.

The privatization will not solve the problem but will only breed corruption, he said.

The Commission Audit, the Ombudsman, and the Civil Service Commission will not be able to run when irregularities arise once the MVIS is privatized.

Public accountability and transparency will be at stake, he said.

He said that privatization did not evade corruption, citing failed private enterprises like CAP Pension Plan, Orient and Urban bank.

He said that it was better for MVIS to remain as a government service because it has paper trails to look into once irregularities arise.