THE Vehicle Inspection Center Operators Association of the Philippines (Vicoap), the sole organization for private motor vehicle inspection centers (PMVICs) in the Philippines, reassured the public and the Land Transportation Office (LTO) that there are no instances wherein a vehicle may be intentionally failed at any of their memberfacilities.

The nature of the inspection and rendering of the results simply does not allow it.

In a statement released by Vicoap spokesman, lawyer Fudge Tajar, the group clarified to LTO Region 7 (Central Visayas) that according to operating guidelines, PMVICs merely conduct the inspection of vehicles. The data gathered is then automatically uploaded to the LTO’s database where the final result is then either tagged as “PASS” or “FAIL” by the LTO, finally resulting in a printed report given to the customer.

Based on Department of Transportation (DoTr) MC-SC-2021-01 issued on March 2, 2021, the PMVIC program is still currently in a transitional period, wherein vehicles need to only pass the visual inspection and emission test for it to be registered. The remaining 70 tests, including the brake test, however, are still conducted but only for recommendatory purposes. The recommendatory nature is explained by the above MC-SC as allowing for “vehicle owners during the transition to familiarize themselves with the system and for additional data gathering of LTO and DoTr to improve regulations on road worthiness.”

Vicoap, more importantly, believes that the conduct of the recommendatory tests will also inform the vehicle owner of any repairs or adjustments needed in the interest of roadworthiness.

It must be noted that both the visual inspection and emission tests conducted are monitored and validated through photos and high resolution videos taken from strategically positioned cameras to record the entire process. These are archived at the LTO central office for reference.

In addition, PMVICs do not charge for retest should any of these inspections fail. This directive has been in effect since Dec. 3, 2021 with the issuance of DoTr MC 2021-2302, which Vicoap members have always been in full compliance with.

Vicoap thus maintains that it has always operated with transparency and holds its membercenters to the highest standards of integrity and professionalism. The group further maintains that none of its member-centers are engaged in the selling of insurance or so-called packages, much less preclude customers from inspections if these are not availed of.