SENATE APPROVES REPORT TO HALT AND INVESTIGATE PMVICs

The Senate adopted the committee report of the Senate committee on public services led by Sen. Grace Poe recommending the Department of Transportation's (DOTr) Department Order 2018-019 and all related issuances to be officially repealed.

"While the 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," said Poe who heads the committee on public services.

Poe earlier submitted Committee Report No. 184 citing flaws in inspection standards, errors in test results, and the lack of transparency in the accreditation process.

The Senate also approved the committee report's recommendation to allow Congress and experts to determine the propriety of expressly allowing the privatization of the Motor Vehicle Inspection System and delegating it to the private sector.

"Discretion cannot be left to the magnanimity of private enterprises," said Poe.

In the report, it was found that the policy was altered to allow the DOTr and Land Transportation Office employees to own a PMVIC as long as they're not part of the accreditation committee.

It was also revealed that the PMVICs are only charged an annual licensing fee of P50,000 for each center despite its projected income of P40 million.

Poe stressed that if the agency used the Motor Vehicle User's Fund 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.

According to data from the DOTr, there is a total of P11.1 billion unreleased Motor Vehicle Inspection Center funds as of June 2019, while the capitalization for each PMVIC costs around P50 million. It was later found that 12 out of the 24 incorporators of PMVICs do not have enough capitalization.

"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," said the senator.

The Senate adopted the report's recommendation for the Senate blue ribbon committee to investigate the highly anomalous transactions surrounding the accreditation of PMVICs and the officials complicit and involved therein.

Notes:

The following recommendations of Committee Report No. 184 were adopted by the Senate:

1. Official repeal of Department of Transportation's Order (DO) 2018-019 and all related issuances. While the 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. Discretion cannot be left to the magnanimity of private enterprises.

2. Allow Congress and experts to determine the propriety of expressly allowing the privatization of Motor Vehicle Inspection System and delegating it to the private sector, similar to the Private Emission Testing Centers under the Clean Air Act.

3. Recommend to the Senate blue ribbon committee the investigation of highly anomalous transactions surrounding the accreditation of Private Motor Vehicle Inspection Centers and the officials complicit and involved therein.