LTO dared to cut off erring car smoke test firms

MANILA, Philippines - The head of a group of private emission testing centers challenged the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and its computerization contract, Stradcom Corp., to cut off from the agency’s experimental direct connect facility system all PETCs that engaged in faking vehicle emission test results.

Antonio Halili, president of the PETC Operators Association (PETCOA), issued the challenge as he accused Stradcom – which operates the direct connect facility – of allowing erring PETCs to resume operations after being shut down for various irregularities.

Halili alleged that Stradcom accommodated Smoke in the City and Enviroguard after the National Bureau of Investigation raided the two firms for the alleged large-scale issuance of anomalous car smoke testing certificates.

He said many of the PETCs connected to the LTO through the direct connect facility were those disconnected by four information technology firms earlier accredited by the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) to provide connectivity for PETCs to upload, real-time, photographs of all car emission testing into the LTO database.

These photographs are monitored by the LTO to ensure that all motor vehicles granted certificates of compliance (CECs) actually undergo car emission testing.

Halili said Stradcom should address the issue or be blamed for the continued proliferation of smoke-belching vehicles despite mandatory car emission testing under the Clean Air Act.