DOTC to tap private firms for motor vehicle inspection

 Economy
Dec 272013
 

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is looking at the possibility of privatizing the motor vehicle inspection function of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) after a series of accidents claiming the lives of passengers.

Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said the government is studying the possibility of adopting the public private partnership (PPP) scheme for the Motor Vehicle Inspection System (MVIS) of LTO.

Abaya said the agency would seek the opinion of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) whether the government could procure the services of the private sector for the LTO function.

 “We are going to NEDA because apparently the government is not in a position to procure and operate all of these (MVIS). Do we allow private sector to come in?” he asked.

The MVIS was put in place several years ago with an end view of providing a systematic, reliable and effective testing of motor vehicles through computerization and automation for compliance to safety and emission requirements.

The program is aimed at helping comply with existing motor vehicle standards, provision of national laws and international agreements; ensuring compliance to safety and emission standards; and integrating all motor vehicle inspection reports into a central motor vehicle database.

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The program is supposed to prevent or minimize air pollution; eliminate not roadworthy motor vehicles; reduce traffic accidents due to improper maintenance; eliminate illegally modified vehicles; and improve fuel consumption by appropriate check or maintenance.

Under the program, the government was supposed to put up MVIS sites all over the country.

However, Abaya said the government has only established four to five MVIS sites all over the country and the LTO is having a hard time operating and maintaining these inspection sites.

 “We will see if the private sector has an appetite for this. The DOTC and LTO will be purely regulating the standards,” he added.

The DOTC chief stressed the need for a strict inspection system due to the series of fatal accidents particularly involving public utility vehicles.

The most recent accident involved a Don Mariano Transit bus that fell of the elevated portion of the Skyway killing 18 people mostly passengers.

Palace: Bus tragedies a reminder to common carriers to practice extraordinary diligence

 Entertainment
Dec 182013
 
Palace: Bus tragedies a reminder to common carriers to practice extraordinary diligence

A policeman searches for personal belongings of passengers after a bus fell off an elevated expressway and crashed into a van below in Taguig city, south of Manila December 16, 2013. At least 21 people were killed during the incident, according to the police. (MNS photo) MANILA  (Mabuhay) – The deadly bus accidents that killed at least 20 people in the last two days should remind public transport operators of their duty to practice extraordinary diligence, Malacañang said Monday. Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda also assured the riding public the government is enforcing speed limits and other measures aimed at ensuring their safety. “I think tragedies like this fully serve to remind the common carriers that they have an obligation in transportation law, extraordinary diligence,” he said, adding sanctions are imposed upon them if an accident occurs. He said Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya ordered the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board to order the immediate automatic suspension of all 78 units of Don Mariano Transport Corp., whose bus figured in an accident at Skyway early Monday. During the 30-day suspension, LTFRB Chairman Winston Ginez was instructed by Abaya to investigate the drivers and have them undergo drug tests, while reviewing the performance record of Don Mariano Transport Corporation. Also, Abaya ordered Toll Regulatory Board executive director Edmund Reyes to review video footage of the Skyway accident and draw up measures to avoid a repeat of the bus fall from an elevated tollway. Lacierda also said the owner of Don Mariano Read More …

22 dead as bus plunges off highway

 Entertainment
Dec 172013
 
22 dead as bus plunges off highway

Pedestrians walk beside an overturned bus lying along a busy street at Bicutan after the bus fell off an elevated expressway and crashed into a van below in Taguig city, south of Manila December 16, 2013. At least 21 people were killed during the incident, according to the police. (MNS photo) MANILA, December 16, 2013 (AFP) – Twenty-two people were killed when a commuter bus plunged from an elevated highway onto a van in Philippine capital Manila on Monday, police said, warning the death toll could rise. Twenty of those who died in the accident in the sprawling city were on board the bus, with the other two fatalities from the van, traffic investigator Jose Abuyog said. “It (the death toll) could go even higher,” as some of the injured are in serious condition, he told AFP, adding that the cause of the accident was still being determined. A further 20 people were injured when the bus fell six meters (20 feet) from the highway onto the road below. The bus driver, who survived, will undergo tests and questioning, said land transportation regulatory board chairman Winston Ginez. Don Mariano Transit, the bus company involved in the accident, has been suspended for 30 days as its other vehicles are examined, Ginez told ABS-CBN television. In 2011, three people were killed and four injured when a bus fell from the same elevated highway.