CTPL issue is still burning

The problem is that many COCs or Certificate of Cover documenting CTPL or Compulsory Third Party Liability insurance, issued to motor vehicle owners are found to be either fake or one COC issued and re-issued to multiple policy holders. By law, one of the requirements prior to registration of any motor vehicle in the country is to have a third party insurance coverage to make sure damages, or part of them are paid for in case of an accident and the party responsible not capable of shouldering the costs.

The proliferation of fake or “multi-issued” COCs means taxes due to the government (in billions of pesos) are lost and in the same berth insurance claims are not paid simply because there are no valid COCs to legally back up the claim.

Many past and present officials of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and the Insurance Commission (IC) have attempted to completely eradicate the problem in order to get the government’s due taxes and to protect the motoring public from unpaid damage claims.

Figures gathered show that the government lost about one billion pesos since the year 2000 in documentary stamps alone and another billion pesos in unpaid VAT for the same period.

As for unpaid claims, tales of woe regarding cases that last years or outright disqualification due to spurious COCs are common among many people we know.

The efforts to rid the motoring sector of this malady have been futile until now – so the DOTC and the IC claim or so it appears. 

To assure the integrity of the insurance coverage the DOTC and the IC have commissioned only large and well-established insurance institutions, like the GSIS to issue motor vehicle CTPL.

Now to make sure that there will be no multi issuance of COCs, an IT system has been put in place to document all transactions.

Well and good – but is it really?

Through a paid advertisement a group of small and medium size insurance companies raised a howl of protest against the move of the DOTC and the IC citing that it literally disenfranchised them in making business and threatened their survival not to mention the possible loss of jobs and earning opportunities of thousands of employees and their families associated with these insurance companies.

Meanwhile, more complaints are referred to this column regarding the “efficiency” (more of its lack) of the LTO’s IT system.

Mr. C. Esperon wrote us to just to react to the announcement of the new system of the LTO with regard to the issuance of CTPL COCs, “ Hinde ko lang po maintindihan kung bakit itong LTO e nagmamalaki na computerized na sila. Mangyari po kasi na sa apat na beses na nagpabalik-balik ako para magrenew lang ng lisensya e palaging OFF-LINE ang agency nila (A04 in La Union). Ngayon kukuha pa ng magpapadagdag ng abala nila. Kung ganun ang mangyayari, hindi lang mapapanis ang laway ng mga nagtratransact sa mga agency ng LTO. Mamamatay pa ang pamilya nila sa gutom kung hindi nila matapos ang kailangan nilang papeles para maghanap buhay, say jeepney at tricycle drivers, etc.”

(I can’t understand why the LTO boasts that they are computerized. I went to one of their agencies [A04 in La Union] four times just to renew my driver’s license and all the time their computers were OFF-LINE. Now, they would add something else to work on [computerized issuance of CTPL]. If this will happen many public utility drivers’ families could die of hunger just waiting for their documents to be processed.)

Outside observers are of the opinion that indeed “computerization” is the most logical solution to the problem of fake COCs or its multi issuance. If there were a “capably working” computerized system that can cope with the voluminous demand, there may not be even a need to disqualify randomly all small and medium size insurance companies. A “working system” can easily weed out the unscrupulous. As a new system is tried, everyone should be given the benefit of the doubt, until otherwise proven. After all, we have waited this long to eradicate the problem. Now that we seem to have come up with a solution, let’s give everyone a chance to prove worthy of being part of this huge industry.

In the same token, maybe a “consortium” of qualified IT firms should be tapped to initially provide the services – the work is just too big for one as evidenced by the number of complaints from the motoring public about the inefficiency of the present system – not necessarily the providers.

You guys have finally found the solution; don’t blow it by a hasty implementation.

Ample and accessible supply for LPG automobiles

If you have been contemplating on switching to LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) to fuel your motor vehicle in order to mitigate the ever-rising fuel prices but are apprehensive of the fuel’s convenient availability, then worry no more.

Go ahead and switch as Petron now has a total of fifteen service stations all over the country offering autogas for motorists.

Petron Xtend is the brand name for the oil company’s LPG for use in automobiles and they are available in thirteen strategically-located service stations in Metro Manila and one in Cebu and another in Davao.

Last year, Petron has been reported to have invested P50 million for its autogas-LPG program. And being the local pioneer of selling LPG to the households for cooking, Petron has a long experience in its safe handling.

No need to worry, switch to LPG!

Pit Lane Notes

Time limitations have prevented me from writing my “take” on the now very volatile 2007 World Formula One Series.

But indeed as expected by the odd-makers, the “law of averages” would soon catch up with the present F1 racing sensation when Lewis Hamilton for the first time failed to make it to the podium.

His current 2 point-lead over double defending champion Fernando Alonso is not much to contend with, if the momentum had really been lost and Hungary would be another exception to his perennial podium appearance.

It appears that the Spanish racing ace has gained back his rhythm while the flying Finn, Kimi has lost his. Though Felipe Massa seems to be still holding his own, the Prancing Horse stable appears to need more extensive testing to keep up with the Mclarens.

Next Sunday’s competition looms to be a telling race as to who and what would play Pied Piper in the series.

“Hit My Ride” part 2 in the offing

Remember that contest that required participants to do a lot of humiliating dares and jaw-dropping stunts to earn the right for a car makeover worth P500,000 from top-notched after market product providers? In its initial audition held at the Greenhills Shopping Center parking lot one of the aspirants even jumped from his car just to get the attention of the judges and in the process broke his leg.

Well, the winner in the first staging of Hit My Ride is a guy they call Jhic, who now has his Ford Lynx fully made over with Concept One wheels and Nitto tires from Sammy Liuson, Xenon bulbs courtesy of Benedict Go of Hummer Philippines, suspension system from Arvin Lim of Bilstein and H&R and body kits from Atoy Llave of A-Toy cars all members of what’s fondly called the “Aftermarket Mafia”.

However, the search continues as the second Hit My Ride gets underway starting off with auditions for aspiring participants in new reality show, which is part of our good friend and fellow SPMJ member, Ardie Lopez’s TV show, Auto Extreme (Solar Sports, Wednesday, 9:30 pm) to held on August 25 and tentatively set again at the Greenhills Shopping Center parking lot.

For more details tune in to the Hit Rides radio show, which airs every Wednesday, 8 to 9 o’clock in the evening over at Hit 99.5FM. Hey, that’s the same radio station where my daughter, Tin starts being a DJ this coming week. The entire “Aftermarket Mafia” goes on board during the show dishing out advice to those who intend to dress up their cars – on maintenance too.

Motoring Tip of the Week

It’s not the first time that we received a “what to do?” query regarding a situation wherein you are driving at a fast speed and then you find yourself about to hit a wall and when you slam on your brake the pedal sinks to the loor – no brakes!

I referred the question to the country’s “racing living legend” himself, Pocholo Ramirez, my co-host on our TV show Motoring Today (Sunday, 4 pm, Solar Sports channel) in a recent episode and he said,”The first thing to do is to down shift your gear, whether your automobile has a manual or automatic transmission, just downshift in order to slowdown your vehicle. Now before the point of impact, try to spin your car by turning your steering wheel to either side that you have the space to run-off. By doing this you prevent a more damaging and life-threatening head-on collision by causing the broadside of your vehicle to hit the wall.”

“But when everything seems not to work, what you can do is put your head between you legs and kiss your….goodbye” he jokingly added.

Happy Motoring!!!

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