‘LTO has a job to explain to the public’

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

 

The chairperson of the Iloilo City Council’s Committee on Transportation on Monday said he hopes that the Land Transportation Office-Region 6 (LTO-6) would attend its consultative meeting on February 10, 2021 after allegedly snubbing its invitation to the first meeting last February 5.

The meeting was meant to discuss LTO-6’s implementation of Memorandum Circular No. 2018-2158, which sets up Private Motor Vehicle Inspection Centers (PMVICs) across the country.

The meeting was to focus on the number of PMVICs that will operate in the city vis-à-vis the number of vehicles to be inspected, the daily rate of inspection, and the reason for the implementation.

Councilor Romel Duron had repeatedly called on the LTO-6 to defer the implementation of the inspection policy in media interviews and in his privilege speech last Feb. 2.

Duron narrated to Daily Guardian via phone the events that transpired leading up to the no-show by LTO-6 officials on Feb. 5.

He said that he personally went to the LTO-6 office in Jaro district to hand the invitation to LTO-6 Regional Director Eric Lenard Tabaldo, but he bumped into Assistant Regional Director Arturo Apolinar, who opted to attend because of his previous experience representing the office in hearings in Capiz.

This changed on the morning of Feb. 5, with Apolinar explaining that LTO-6 Acting Operations Chief Atty. Allan Sacramento had been designated as the office’s “spokesperson” via LTO Office Order No. RVI-2021-21.

Duron said even before the meeting started 2 pm Friday, he and his office had been contacting Sacramento via text message and call but the latter did not answer.

Sacramento told Aksyon Radyo Iloilo that he had no idea about the interview, saying that he was not informed that there was a scheduled meeting with the City Council. He said he only knew about it during the weekend.

Tabaldo had also issued a public apology on Monday through media interviews, saying he told Asst. Director Gaudioso Geduspan to attend the meeting due to his experience in Roxas City.

“[Apolinar] volunteered to attend because he told me that he attended for [LTO-6] in a hearing by the Provincial Board [of Capiz] on the PMVICs, and [Geduspan] in Roxas City previously. Then on Friday morning, he told me that he cannot attend since Atty. Allan Sacramento had been designated by office order, but [Sacramento] did not respond when we were contacting him,” Duron told Daily Guardian.

He said that he wants to give a chance to the LTO-6 to explain its insistence on implementing the PMVIC policy at this time when the whole country continues to grapple with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

“We want to know why they need to do this at this time. In Manila, they are also asking to defer the implementation of the PMVICs because of questions over its accuracy and price rates. The Senate is also planning to call for an investigation on how they arrived at the amount of P1,800 per inspection, and a rate of 50 percent for failing vehicles. Who set these rules? There are many questions the LTO needs to answer, especially to public utility vehicles,” he added.

Duron said that he went again to the LTO-6 office on Monday morning to deliver the invitation to Tabaldo, which this time, was received by his secretary.

As of this writing, Tabaldo had not yet confirmed to Duron whether he or a representative would attend the meeting.

He said that if the LTO-6 does not show up, he will leave it to the city council to make the appropriate action.

“If they don’t show up, it’s not going to be our fault. They have an obligation to the people, especially to the registered motor vehicle owners, public and private, to inform, because they are the ones implementing this. As chairperson of the committee, we are just doing what we can. We didn’t lack in our job. We will refer this to the city council if they snub us again, and then we decide. We will ask them first on why they would not attend,” he said.

Aside from the LTO-6, the committee has also invited local transport groups, private motor vehicle owners, and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Bureau-Region 6 (LTFRB-6).