Davao court to rule on TRO versus DOTr
A REGIONAL Trial Court in Davao Oriental has directed the Department of Transportation (DOTr) for a summary hearing on a petition for nullity and issuance of a temporary order (TRO) against “pertinent department orders and circulars” related to the implementation of the controversial ‘Private Motor Vehicle Inspection Centers’ (PMVIC) all over the country.
In an order dated May 3, 2023, Hon. Judge Emilio Dayanghirang III, presiding judge of Branch 32 in Lupon, Davao Oriental, directed Secretary Jaime Bautista, Undersecretary Renier Paul Yebra and Land Transportation Office (LTO) Assistant Secretary Jose Arturo ‘JayAr’ Tugade, to appear before his sala “within 24 hours” after receipt of the court’s order.
The court’s swift action was in reaction to the petition filed thru their counsel by the complainants, businesswoman Julie Ann Amto, Rakim Manuel Oxillo and Ariel Lim.
Amto is the owner of Capitol Emission Testing Center whose renewal of application to operate was allegedly “arbitrarily denied” by the LTO while Oxillo is the federation president of the Lupon Pedicab Operator Driver’s Association (LUPODA) with more than 3,000 members.
Lim, on the other hand, is the national president of the ‘Ang Kaligtasan Sa Kalsada’ (AKSK) movement, National Public Transport Coalition (NPTC) and the Confederation of Tricycle Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines (NACTODAP).
Atty. Israelito Torrejon, counsel for the petitioners, said that all in all, they are questioning 12 orders and circulars of the DOTr, including the denial of Amto’s application.
Torrejon, a dean of law in Davao City, said at the center of the issue is the DOTr’s insistence to privatize the inspection of all motor vehicles in favor of PMVICs without any legal basis.
“…Public respondents have continued to grant PMVICs the authority to conduct motor vehicle inspections including emission testing, albeit without any legal authority to do so.
“Thus, what ruffles the feathers here is not the privatization per se, but who initiated it and by what legal authority,” Torrejon stressed.
In pushing for the PMVIC, the petition further noted that the DOTr has committed “grave abuse of discretion” as the privatization of vehicle inspection is not provided for under RA 8749 or the ‘Clean Air Act of 1999’ while allowing private entities to conduct emission testing.
“It is likewise crystal clear that nowhere in R.A. No. 8749 is there any provision empowering or authorizing private entities to conduct motor vehicle inspection, a public duty rightfully lodged in the Land Transportation Office,” noted the petition.
The petition also accused the DOTr of subverting the power of Congress to enact laws and the intent of RA 8749 thru the series of department orders and circulars it issued in the last 5 years.
“Can administrative agencies such as the DOTR and LTO lawfully undertake to privatize a government program or function, create a new regulatory body empowered to accredit, authorize, and penalize their concessionaires, and provide implementing rules and guidelines therefor— by mere issuance of a series of department orders and memorandum circulars in the absence of a valid enabling and delegating law,” the petition asked.
In an earlier talk with Pinoy Exposé, Lim said it was the DOTr who “forced” them to seek redress from the court after two “demand letters” they sent to Bautista’s office in February and March went unanswered.
He added they were surprised that instead of answering their letters, Bautista issued Department Order 2023-008 last March 6, 2023 that even consolidated all the previous orders on the creation of the PMVICs that they have been questioning in the last 5 years.
Lim said that despite no legal leg to stand on and their repeated complaints, the DOTr has become adamant in pushing for the PMVICs to the detriment of private emission testing centers (PETCs) like the one owned by Amto.
“Today, PETC owners are slowly being shut down in the guise of “saturation of emission testing centers… Interestingly, Public Respondents have been allowing and granting PMVICs authority to conduct motor vehicle inspection including emission testing, which puts their narrative of “saturation of emission testing centers” faltering and highly doubtful,” the petition also noted.
From more than 1,800 PETCs, the figure, Lim said, is now down to 643, while the number of PMVICs is yet to increase due to the high cost of its ‘franchise’ (nearly P50 million) to the detriment of private and public vehicle owners.
He added the ‘phasing out’ of the PETCs by the DOTr “without any legal basis” increased in tempo in 2020, during the lockdown that followed the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Ang mas nahihirapan dito ay ang mga jeepney at tricycle drivers at operators dahil kung may PMVIC man, napakalayo sa kanilang lugar,” the transport leader said.
He noted that in some places, jeepney and tricycle drivers must travel for some 70 kilometers just to have their vehicles inspected as this has become mandatory for the LTO before vehicle registration.
In the case of Lupon, jeepney and tricycle drivers are forced to go to Mati, a distance of more than 217 kilometers just to have their vehicles “inspected” prior to their registration.
Lim also hinted that financial gain for some officials in the DOTr may have been behind their insistence in supporting the PMVICs.
He noted that during the 18th Congress and under President Rodrigo Duterte, it was made clear that availing of the PMVIC service cannot be made mandatory by the LTO.
“While we support the transport modernization and road safety programs of the government, they should not be made as a business undertaking for some people to the detriment of everyone else,” Lim said.
“Ginagawa nilang negosyo ang pagseserbisyo sa publiko,” he added without referring to anyone in particular.
Lim also noted that in the new vehicle application in the Internet that Tugade has been promoting as the most “convenient” way to register a vehicle, applicants have no choice but to avail of the service of a PMVIC, not a PETC, before they can proceed with their registration.
“Bakit kahit malinaw na ‘voluntary’ lang itong PMVIC ay ginagawang ‘mandatory’ ng LTO sa registration application nito,” he asked.
