A PHILIPPINE senator on Monday asked the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to halt its mandatory inspection of private vehicles to spare owners of needless costs, citing the need for the agency to focus on the roadworthiness of public utility vehicles (PUVS).
“Suspend that first (private motor vehicle inspection). Study this first and reduce the burden on private vehicle owners,” Senator Rafael T. Tulfo, who heads the public services committee, told a hearing in mixed English and Filipino.
“Most of these private vehicles are well-maintained by their owners, these delivery vans and bigger vehicles are what we see with smoke emissions.”
He said the agency should focus on buses and other public utility vehicles.
At a Senate public service committee hearing on Jan. 14, LTFRB Chairman Teofilo E. Guadiz III said the government would use these testing centers to certify jeepneys for road safety ahead of cooperatives’ vehicle modernization obligations once transport routes are finalized by 2026.
The agency earlier said it would come up with at least half of the final transport routes for modern jeepneys by the end of this year and finish these routes by 2026 with only about 15% of routes having been completed.
In August last year, Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. rejected a proposal to suspend the government’s jeepney modernization program, rejecting criticisms that the plan had been rushed.
Transportation Secretary Jaime J. Bautista earlier said suspending the modernization program would waste investments that have been made to roll out the plan. — John Victor D. Ordoñez