The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority is investigating the report of the Commission on Audit stating the MMDA, the agency tasked to go after erring motorists, and the one enforcing road traffic rules and regulations, owns 399 unregistered vehicles.
According to CoA, the MMDA failed to register 399 out of 531 (75.14 percent) total vehicles with the Land Transportation Office in 2019. The unregistered MMDA vehicles include motorcycles, service vehicles, and trucks.
“As regards the recent findings of the Commission on Audit on the unregistered vehicles of MMDA which the commission flagged, we would like to assure the public that we are handling this matter seriously and taking serious measures to immediately address the issue,” said MMDA chairman Danilo Lim in a statement.
Lim said personnel who will be proven to have committed negligence on their behalf would be sanctioned accordingly.
The COA report stated that the MMDA’s Transport Division, responsible for registering all vehicles owned by the agency, cited the failure to pass the LTO inspection as one of the biggest reasons the majority of the vehicles were left unregistered.
Some vehicles had faulty signal, brake, or license-plate lights, some failed smoke emission testing or had faulty electrical wirings, and others had corroded and unreadable chassis numbers. Moreover, some vehicles were said to be nonoperational at the supposed time of registration renewal.
Lim explained that the unregistered vehicles cited in the COA observation were a mix of MMDA assets; vehicles lined up for repairs pending the delivery of parts; vehicles already auctioned off but haven’t been crossed out of the books yet; and unused vehicles being processed for disposal.
“I have already ordered the Transport Unit and Supply Division to fast track the replacement of parts and repair of serviceable vehicles to be ready for LTO registration,” he said.
The MMDA chief Lim said during the past three years, his agency gradually purchased over 300 million worth of new vehicles and heavy equipment for MMDA to replace the many unserviceable vehicles the agency have been using from the previous administrations.
“It has always been my goal to modernize the agency—from intelligent transport system to modern service vehicle and equipment—so that we can deliver quality public service. 120 million of our savings this year will be allotted for the procurement of necessary heavy equipment to replace the unserviceable ones. As stated in the COA observation, disposition of old and worn out vehicles and acquisition of new ones are continuously being done by the agency,” he said.
Lim added the MMDA already coordinated with the Commission and proposed the following recommendations to which the agency was already doing:
1) to ensure that all MMDA-owned motor vehicles are promptly registered with LTO as government vehicles under the name of MMDA,
2) that renewals of registration of all serviceable vehicles be made within the periods prescribed by LTO to avoid paying penalties,
3) the agency request for funding from DBM for needed repair of vehicles or if possible for acquisition of brand new motor vehicles, and
4) to issue penalty/sanctions for end-users who will not coordinate with the Transport Division for registration of serviceable/operational vehicles to LTO.
“The MMDA is an agency mandated to strictly implement traffic rules and regulations, and we are ensuring that the Agency is likewise able to abide by all these laws. We will not let this pass under our watch,” said Lim.