ILOILO City – The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has revived its “no inspection, no registration” policy or motor vehicle inspection system (MVIS) in Region 6. The vehicles must, of course, pass the road worthiness inspection in accredited private motor vehicle inspection centers (PMVICs).
In February this year, President Rodrigo Duterte suspended the MVIS due to intense protests from the public transport sector.
On July 5, however, DOTr issued Memorandum Circular No. MC-SC-2021-02 that set the guidelines for the LTO to only accept motor vehicle inspection reports from authorized private inspection centers in designated areas.
In Western Visayas, this policy is being enforced in just two areas at the moment – Bacolod City and Capiz province.
These are the only areas in the region with PMVICs accredited by the Land Transportation Office (LTO), explained Atty. Gaudioso Geduspan, assistant director of LTO Region 6.
These accredited PMVICs are the Cimatech Enterprises, Inc. in Bacolod City and Panay Quality Motors Services, Inc. in Roxas City (Capiz).
For the rest of Western Visayas – Iloilo city and province, Guimaras, Antique, Aklan, and Negros Occidental – for now, “as is ang requirement” for motor vehicles seeking registration or seeking renewal of registration, said Geduspan.
He was referring to the smoke emission testing in Private Emission Testing Centers (PETC) and visual check by LTO personnel.
But once accredited PMVICs become operational in these areas, the “no inspection, no registration” policy would be enforced, too, said Geduspan.
Under DOTr’s MVIS, motor vehicles must hurdle the inspection on not less than 60 parts of the vehicle, including the engine, hand break, speedometer, clutch, signal light, and stop light, among others.
Vehicles that fail to pass the inspection must address the deficiencies found and have to be re-inspected.
There are the inspection fees to pay:
* for light vehicles – P600 plus P70 value added tax (VAT)
* for public utility jeepneys (PUJs) – P300 plus P30 VAT
* for motorcycles and tricycles – P500 plus P60 VAT
“This is way below or lower kon magpa-(smoke) emission (test) kita. Mas mahal-mahal gani ang aton (smoke) emission (test fee),” Geduspan told Panay News.
Heavy vehicles like trucks are not covered by the MVIS.
Geduspan said other PMVICs that sought accreditation and may soon be operating, too, are:
* Aklan Prime Motors Vehicles, Inc. – Kalibo, Aklan
* Kensa Air Vehicle Inspection Center – Antique
* Autoverde Emission – Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental
Two other PMVICs are being constructed in Iloilo City, said Geduspan.
In Metro Manila, the DOTr’s PMVIC steering committee stressed that the establishment of these private facilities is a definitive solution to ensuring the roadworthiness of vehicles to prevent road accidents.
“We remain firm in our commitment to address the roadworthiness requisite prior to renewal of vehicle registration. And, currently, PMVICs are the most equipped facilities which can accurately, efficiently and reliably measure this vital requirement of the law,” the committee said in a statement.
The committee further said the operation of PMVICs is just a form of assistance by the private sector in the implementation of MVIS that test the roadworthiness of vehicles.
It said the government still has direct control and supervision over roadworthiness testing and motor vehicle registration even if the MVIS is outsourced./PN