Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said motorists can choose between a Private Motor Vehicle Inspection Center (PMVIC) and a Private Emission Testing Center (PETC) for the required vehicle inspection following his order to the Land Transportation Office (LTO) to temporarily hold the implementation of a memorandum directing all regional offices to adopts the PMVICs test within their geographic areas of responsibility (GAOR).
"Kung sa isang lugar may PMVIC at smoke center, optional na mamili kung PMVIC or smoke emission ang gagamitin," Tugade said in an interview with dzRH's Dos Por Dos.
"Iba ito sa unang utos na mandatory ang PMVIC, kung mayroon pong option, motorista ang bahala," he continued.
The said LTO memorandum, dated August 4, 2021, was adopted as the subsequent result of Memorandum SC 2021-02 or the Implementation of Geographic Areas of Responsibility (GAOR) for the registration of light vehicles and motorcycles, issued last July 5, 2021.
At present, motor vehicle owners in areas not under the GAOR may still choose to have their vehicles undergo emission testing at a PETC and roadworthiness inspection at an LTO office.
Further, ocular roadworthiness inspection for heavy vehicles — gross weight vehicle is equal to 4501 kgs and above — are done by LTO personnel, and emission testing by the PETC, within the same GAOR.
According to Tugade, withholding the implementation would allow them to revisit the GORA and all the other regions not included in it namely the regions of Cordillera Administrative Region, CARAGA and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
The DOTr chief also insisted that he recognizes the need for a smoother and more efficient manner of implementation of the GAOR policy, while also taking into consideration the current COVID-19 situation which hampers the required vehicle registration process.
