Crackdown on vs erring smoke test centers, car insurance syndicates

Land Transportation Office (LTO) chief Roberto Lastimoso disclosed yesterday that he has formed teams to go after erring private emission testing centers (PETC) and unscrupulous insurance agents that have made the activities their milking cow.

Lastimoso, also an assistant secretary of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), made the statement following complaints from motorists that syndicates involved in the issuance of PETC certificates and certificates of cover (COCs) for vehicle insurance have been prying on them in the past years.

Lastimoso said these dishonest testing centers issue emission certificates to vehicle owners even if their vehicles do not pass the tests, in exchange for a sum of money.

"We will get these unscrupulous persons and we will padlock their establishments immediately. If they want to do business and help the government, then they should do it honestly," he said.

Despite this problem, Lastimoso reported that Bantay Usok, a government-private sector task force monitoring the extent of pollution coming from vehicles, said the air pollution index in Metro Manila has gone down to 15 percent.

Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza earlier had ordered the LTO to monitor the testing centers because of complaints that they were certifying unqualified vehicles.

There are more than 556 private testing centers in operation, 100 of which are in Metro Manila.

Lastimoso said all these centers would be strictly monitored by LTO teams beginning next week.

At the same time, Lastimoso denied the claims of Cavite Rep. Gilbert Remulla that LTO personnel are in connivance with fixers, insurance agents and the testing centers in making the Clean Air Act their personal cash cow.

In a privilege speech, Remulla accused testing centers of issuing certificates of compliance outside their mandated jurisdictions and without actually conducting smoke emission tests.

Lastimoso said Remulla did not get the correct information. "He was not given enough information on the smoke testing and how it is being conducted," he said, explaining that LTO employees are not in any way involved in the tests and the issuance of certificates.

He, however, promised to look into the lawmaker’s charges.

Lastimoso said there is no "geographical barrier" in the conduct of emission testing, meaning that even if you are from Cavite, you can still have your car checked in Metro Manila or in any other area. The transaction is computerized and is logged at the LTO.

Lastimoso, meanwhile, admitted they were surprised to learn about the tampering of COCs for vehicle insurance being "so rampant" with one document reportedly being issued as much as 10 times.

He said he learned that a particular insurance company prints at least 10 copies of a COC with the same number, thus explaining the discrepancy in the number of vehicles registered with the LTO and the Insurance Commission in terms of coverage.

"In 1999, there were 3.2 million registered vehicles nationwide with only 1.2 million COCs recorded or a total loss of P600 million to the government," he said.

In 2,000, Lastimoso said there were 3.7 million registered vehicles and only about 1.2 million registered COCs, while in 2001, vehicle registration went up to 3.9 million but the COCs remained the same.

"This is a P1-billion-plus revenue loss," he said.

Under his watch, Lastimoso said the computerization of the LTO would increase revenue collection.

He, however, said there are still some insurance companies which resist the reforms that have been instituted. He warned that in due time, they will be named and charged in court.