SENATE ADOPTS PANEL REPORT TO HALT MVIS SCHEME

SENATE probers, after mounting an inquiry, moved to abort the controversial privatization of the Motor Vehicle Inspection System (MVIS) under the Duterte administration. Unanimously adopting a panel report submitted by Sen. Grace Poe as chairman of the Committee on Public Services, the Senate sought the immediate repeal of the Department of Transportation’s (DOTR) Department Order 2018-019 and all related issuances. Poe pointed out that “while the fees have been lowered for now and testing seems to have been made optional, the implementation of this flawed program must be stopped definitively pending the resolution of issues hounding it.” The senator confirmed the panel’s findings in Committee Report 184 that listed “flaws in inspection standards, errors in test results, and the lack of transparency in the accreditation process.” In turn, the senators also approved the probe committee report’s recommendation to allow Congress and experts to determine the propriety of expressly allowing the privatization of the Motor Vehicle Inspection System and delegating it to the private sector. Poe stressed, however, that “discretion cannot be left to the magnanimity of private enterprises.” Among others, the Senate panel report confirmed findings “that the policy was altered to allow the DOTR and Land Transportation Office employees to own a PMVIC as long as they’re not part of the accreditation committee." Senate findings showed that PMVICS only charged an annual licensing fee of P50,000 for each center “despite its projected income [amounting to] P40 million.” The Senate chief prober asserted that if the agency used the Motor Vehicle User’s Fund to finance the construction of PMVICS instead of privatizing it, the government could have generated more income and become less of a burden to motorists. Citing data from the DOTR, the committee report noted there was a total of P11.1 billion in unreleased Motor Vehicle Inspection Center funds as of June 2019, while the capitalization for each PMVIC costs around P50 million. It also noted subsequent findings that 12 out of the 24 incorporators of PMVICS “do not have enough capitalization.” Senate probers concluded that “the anomalies surrounding the rollout of PMVICS far outweigh its good intention of uplifting road safety.” Poe warned, “if we turn a blind eye to the irregularities now, motorists will shoulder this burden for years to come.” Upon submission of probers’ initial findings, the Senate adopted the report’s recommendation to endorse it to the Senate Blue Ribbon panel for further investigation of alleged “highly anomalous transactions surrounding the accreditation of PMVICS and the officials complicit and involved therein.”