Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 4) — The Vehicle Inspection Center Operators Association of the Philippines on Thursday urged the government to ramp up its efforts to lessen accidents involving defective vehicles.
In a media briefing on Thursday, the group said the Philippines has become Asia’s “sick man” for lack of focus on road safety, as evidenced by the high number of traffic-related deaths every year.
The VICOAP said over 12,000 people are killed due to road accidents in the country annually. Citing the Metro Manila Accident Reporting and Analysis System report, it added that 100,933 accidents incurred damage to property in the capital region in 2019.
VICOAP president Iñigo Larrazabal stressed that the implementation of the government’s vehicle roadworthiness program has been considerably delayed.
“This issue cannot continue. We aspire to be the premiere country when it comes to road safety. The program for improving testing for roadworthiness has been long overdue,” he said.
This comes after the Department of Transportation bared its plan to open 200 additional sites for its Private Motor Vehicle Inspection Centers — facilities that evaluate if a vehicle is roadworthy.
DOTr Assistant Secretary Steve Pastor earlier this week said the country has 138 PMVIC sites, but with only 24 operating. He said the others were either for reopening, republication, or re-evaluation.
The inspection’s hefty fees, ranging from ₱600 to ₱1,800, drew the attention of lawmakers.
“The intention behind the law is noble, but the fees following its implementation cannot come at a worse time in the middle of a pandemic where people are barely getting by and now have to add another item in their list of expenses,” said Senator Grace Poe, chairperson of the Senate committee on public services, in Senate Resolution No. 634.
Poe questioned why a motorist will be charged an additional ₱300 to ₱900 reinspection fee, after the vehicle has undergone necessary repairs after failing the first test.
Larrazabal said that the Philippines can only catch up with its neighbors if PMVICs start their operations “as soon as possible.”
On the issue of corruption, Larrazabal said such facilities must be upgraded and equipped with technology that can “constantly [gather] data across the entire inspection process” that would reveal anomalies pointing to corruption.
“And because some parts of the process are automated, we know that they cannot be tampered with. In other cases, we can review the data in vulnerable areas to identify any patterns of abuse so we can then act accordingly,” he added.
