PMVIC owners agree to Tugade’s appeal of lowering inspection fee amid the pandemic, waiving of reinspection fee for 1 year

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As an act of solidarity and a way of heeding the call of motorists, officials of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) announce that Private Motor Vehicle Inspection Center (PMVIC) owners have decided to heed the appeal of DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade’s to lower the current PMVIC inspection fee, level it with the current fee of PETCs while there is a pandemic, and waive for one year the reinspection fee for private and public utility vehicles (PUVs).

The move was announced in a virtual press conference today, 11 February 2021, led by DOTr Assistant Secretary for Procurement and Project Implementation and concurrent Chief of Staff Giovanni Lopez, Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Atty. Reinier Paul Yebra, Land Transportation Office (LTO) Assistant Secretary Edgar Galvante, and other road transport stakeholders.

“Nais ko pong umpisahan sa pahayag na— narinig at naintindihan po ni Secretary Tugade ang hinaing ng ating mga kababayan, maging ang mga isyu na inihain ng ating mga mambabatas ukol sa pagpapatupad ng MVIS,” Asec. Lopez said in his opening statement.

“Dahil dito, nais ko pong ianunsyo na matapos ang mahabang negosasyon at diskusyon, matapos po ang sunud-sunod na dayalogo at mga meetings, napapayag ‘ho ni Secretary Tugade ang mga Motor Vehicle Inspection Center Owners na iparehas ang kanilang singil sa kasalukuyang singil ng mga Private Emission Testing Centers,” he added.

This means that from P1,500-P1,800, the PMVIC testing fee will be lowered to P600 for private vehicles. Nonetheless, the process will still cover all 73 inspection items, including smoke emission, for a comprehensive test of a vehicle’s roadworthiness. Meanwhile, the inspection fee for motorcycles will also be lowered to P500 and P300 for public utility jeepneys.

Aside from lowering the current PMVIC test fee, private owners have also agreed to waive the retest fee for one year.

Earlier, Secretary Tugade issued the appeal of lowering the PMVIC fees in adherence to the request of President Rodrigo Duterte and in order to strike a balance between keeping the roads safe and considering the financial difficulties being experienced by many vehicle owners at due to the present COVID-19 pandemic situation.

For the part of LTO, Assistant Secretary Edgar Galvante said that the latest development regarding the lowering of testing fees for vehicle inspection, which is a requisite prior to vehicle registration with the agency, will be effective immediately.

“Kaya ‘yun po ang aming ipatutupad at bibigyan po natin ng kaukulang directive or payo ang mga LTO offices na nagsasagwa ng registration or inspection para makatupad dito sa utos ng ating Mahal na Pangulo,” the LTO Chief said.

Moreover, while the move has gained the support of private stakeholders, they also maintain that MVICs are vital to ensure road safety and upholding the welfare of the people.

“In the same way that we responded to the call of the government about roadworthiness and made the investment without hesitation, we believe that this is a good and worthy program, “President of Vehicle Inspection Center Owners Association of the Philippines (VICOAP) Iñigo Larrazabal stated.

"In this case, in the time of pandemic that we agreed to lower our fees, we will still have to perform our mandate. And this is beyond getting paid. We take seriously our advocacy of road worthiness. We appeal also to the motoring public, this is a good chance for you to check if your vehicle is roadworthy - for the same amount of money that you pay [the old process]," he added.

“Meantime, our life-threatening problems on respiratory and cardiovascular diseases due to unabated motor vehicle emissions and also the needless Filipino deaths yearly due to road accidents or crashes and of course, the equally urgent global problem on climate change cannot wait to be addressed anymore. Like COVID-19, it is also an emergency that we all need to address,” President of Clean Air Philippines Movement Inc. Dr. Leo Olarte expressed.

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