DENR takes over emission testing

By Ronnie E. Calumpita, Reporter  ENVIRONMENT Secretary Michael Defensor said on Tuesday that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources will soon take over the supervision of private emission testing centers from the Land Transportation Office to address irregularities in the testing of motor vehicles. At a briefing, Defensor said he and the Land Transportation office assistant secretary, Anneli Lontoc, are finalizing a memorandum of agreement on the supervision of 414 testing centers nationwide by his department. “I’m talking with Assistant Secretary Lontoc about it,” he said. “We will also investigate erring testing centers and continue closing them down.” The operations of 25 testing centers were suspended in Metro Manila for falsifying the emission test records of motor vehicles. The emission testing of vehicles is a yearly requirement in the registration of vehicles with the LTO as mandated by Republic Act 8749, the Clean Air Act of 1999. Some testing centers charge owners of motor vehicles P600 for not bringing their vehicles for the emission test and collect P300 from owners who bring their vehicles for actual testing. Defensor said the emission test will cost drivers and operators of public utility vehicles only P100. “There is actually resistance from bus operators to the transfer of testing control to the DENR because they know many of their buses will fail in the emission test,” he said. In Metro Manila alone, an average of 1,300 motor vehicles, including tricycles and motorcycles, are tested daily

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