PROBE EYED ON RISE OF VEHICLE INSPECTION

LTO 7 chief says its extension office in Talisay City is endangering the public by inspecting thousands of vehicles for just more than a minute when it should be done for 20 minutes.

The Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas was asked to investigate an official of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) 7 over an allegedly “alarming” and irregular number of vehicles inspected this year.

Victor Emmanuel Caindec, LTO 7 chief, filed yesterday a complaint requesting the anti-graft office to probe Engr. Bernardo Borromeo Jr., former LTO Talisay Extension Office chief, for an alleged violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Caindec said he was “alarmed and amazed” when he reviewed the performance report of Borromeo during his stint as chief of LTO Talisay.

The LTO Talisay office reported having inspected a total of 74,264 vehicles from January to May 2018. The office also registered a total of 67,873 vehicles in the same period.

However, the “appropriate and satisfactory” inspection per vehicle would take 20 minutes, pursuant to LTO standards.

That means an inspector could inspect only about 20 vehicles per day, or a total of 528 vehicles per month.

“Due to Engr. Borromeo’s gross negligence, public safety is endangered by the vehicles, which are registered and allowed to use the roads without proper and correct determination of roadworthiness,” said Caindec.

Borromeo, who now heads the LTO 7’s extension office in SM City Cebu, had 11 personnel and two motor inspectors during his stint as head of LTO Talisay.

Assistant Secretary Edgar Galvante transferred Borromeo from the LTO Talisay to the branch in SM City Cebu in an order dated May 24, 2018.

Prior to his transfer, Borromeo claimed he had three vehicle inspectors in his office in Talisay.

Granting that the LTO Talisay has three inspectors, the maximum number of vehicles they could have inspected per month would only be more than 500.

“The above statistical data show that the Talisay City Extension Office knowingly and willingly violated the norm in the conduct of motor vehicle inspection, which is designed primarily to ensure that a registered vehicle is roadworthy,” said Caindec.

He said that LTO Talisay’s practice of “one minute and 35 seconds” allotted for vehicle inspection is “patently insufficient” to determine the vehicle’s roadworthiness.

Caindec said the public’s trust in LTO 7 has been tarnished, causing “unquantifiable injury” to the agency due to Borromeo’s negligence. /