ILOILO City – After a public outcry, vehicle inspections to be conducted by private centers are no longer mandatory upon the order of President Rodrigo Duterte.
His decision was meant to “balance” the needs of the public amid the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, according to Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque.
Ilonggos heaved a sigh of relief and welcomed the move.
“Nalipay gid kami. Daw nadulaan kami tunok sa ulo,” said Raymundo Parcon, president of the Iloilo City Loop Alliance of Jeepneey Owners and Drivers Association (ICLAJODA).
Senators and local legislators questioned the legal basis for privatizing vehicle inspection.
Under the new motor vehicle registration system, not less than 60 parts of the vehicle must pass the inspection.
Should one part fail, it must be replaced or repaired, then re-inspected. Another inspection fee has to be paid for the second inspection – half of the amount paid for the first inspection – otherwise the vehicle won’t be able to proceed to registration.
ICLAJODA members, for their part, claimed that “99 percent” of the public utility jeepneys in the city and province of Iloilo will fail the inspection.
Motorists also complained that the emission testing fee tripled to P1,500 from P500 and that vehicle registration fee may now cost up to P3,000.
The establishment and operation of private motor vehicle inspection centers (PMVIC) is mandated under the Land Transportation Office Memorandum Circular No. 2018-2158, and the motor vehicle inspection requirement is in line with Republic Act 4136 (Land Transportation and Traffic Code) and the Clean Air Act.
With the latest development, Parcon said they are now gearing up for the modernization of their units.
Councilor Romel Duron, on the other hand, described Duterte’s decision as “good news.”
But he still intends to file another resolution reiterating a call to defer the said policy.
Duron said the resolution will lay down some factors that could be added to the ones identified by the “higher-ups” as reason to defer the policy.
The Department of Transportation, meanwhile, said in a statement that PMVIC owners would lower their fees, after Transport secretary Arthur Tugade urged them to do so.
Following this development, the PMVIC testing fee will be lowered to P600 for private vehicles, from P1,500 to P1,800 earlier. Fees for motorcycle inspections will also be lowered to P500, while inspection fee for passenger jeepneys will now cost P300, according to the statement
CHILD CAR SEAT LAW DEFERRED
On Thursday, President Duterte also approved the deferment of the implementation of the child car seat law.
The law that took effect on Feb. 2 disallows children aged 12 years old and below from sitting in the front seat of a vehicle, and mandates them to use “child restraint systems” when sitting at the back.
“Nagdesisyon na po ang ating Presidente. Ipinagpaliban po o deferred ang implementasyon ng child car seats,” said Roque.
However, the deferment of the car seat law will require new legislation, said Deputy Speaker Rufus Rodriguez.
He said a joint House-Senate resolution would not suffice because the Supreme Court had ruled in a case involving government nurses’ basic pay that a resolution cannot prevail over a law.
“It’s Congress that passed the law requiring child car seats, and it’s Congress that can suspend its implementation,” he said in a statement.
Duterte’s pronouncement will serve as “basis” to amend the law which he signed in February 2019, said Roque./PN
