Zubiri asks LTO, DOTC to expose names of erring Private Testing Centers

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri solicited the cooperation of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) to run after erring Private Emission Testing Centers.

Zubiri's appeal came following report that some public utility buses were given accreditation by Private Testing Centers outsourced by the LTO to conduct compliance certificate for vehicle pollution control.

The senator during the Congressional Oversight Committee on Climate Change hearing Wednesday last week asked Undersecretary Anneli Lontoc of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) to submit to the Senate names of these unscrupulous testing centers.

"Obviously they are not doing their job. They are giving smoke belchers a clean bill of health when actually they are not. You (DOTC) should take away the accreditation of these companies, but the problem is some politicians are backing them up," Zubiri said.

He said that in order to save the Undersecretary any possible repercussions, Lontoc should submit to the Senate during Executive Session the list of these unscrupulous testing centers.

"Let us know so, we can thresh these matters for the public. We will have it investigated because this practice will never stop the pollution in Metro Manila," he said.

The Majority Leader added that he and 1st District Representative Nereus Acosta of Bukidnon have been working for the last 10 years to reduce the pollution problem in Metro Manila.

"We should look at California because were once like them, you can hardly see the sunlight and the blue skies. California was able to drastically reduce their vehicle emissions and you can actually now see the sunlight and blue skies that used to be a smog."

Zubiri expressed concern over the volume of pollution that goes into the lungs of commuters and motorists travelling Edsa, saying "all of us who go through Edsa everyday will suffer a very short life span and will not anymore live the life span of our grandparents lived, unless we do something about it."