Back in July, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) issued Memorandum Circular No. 2021-02. In a nutshell, the document mandates select Land Transportation Office (LTO) branches to accept only vehicle inspection reports from authorized private motor vehicle inspection centers (PMVICs). Now, however, the DOTr is ordering the LTO to hold off on implementing the mandatory PMVIC testing in the meantime.
According to the DOTr’s newest directives, the LTO must suspend the new policy until the issues regarding the geographic areas of responsibility (GAOR) have been addressed. Likewise, the LTO is being ordered to maintain the previous registration process wherein motorists have the freedom to choose between PMVICs and private emission testing centers (PETCs).
The DOTr’s statement reads: “In order to keep our roads safe, the DOTr believes we need to have better standards to check the roadworthiness of vehicles. This is the principal reason why we are continuously advocating the conduct of strict inspection of motor vehicles.
“Though roadworthiness is not the cure-all for road crashes, it is one of the pillars of road safety. Thus, we remain firm in our commitment to address the roadworthiness requisite prior to renewal of vehicle registration.”
No word yet when exactly these agencies will actually begin making PMVIC testing mandatory, but we’ll give you more updates as we have them. You can instead check out the full announcement below for more details. You can also share with us what you think via the comments.
