HOLD your breath, but the Land Transportation Office has just found out that only 200 of the 756 breath analyzers bought in 2015 and 2017 could be repaired.
LTO chief Vigor Mendoza II said the instruments were purchased by the agency some years back for the implementation of the Anti-Drunk and Drugged Driving Act of 2013.
A recent inventory discovered that about 200 of the breath analyzers could still be useful while the rest were beyond repair.
“These breath analyzers were not bought under this administration. The first batch of 150 units were bought in 2015 for P10.2 million, while the rest of the more than 600 units were bought in 2017 for more than P38,000 per unit. The total cost of these two procurements of 756 units of breath analyzers was P33.8 million,” Mendoza pointed out.
As soon as the gadgets were delivered, 215 of them were donated to the Philippine National Police, while 50 went to the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, the two partners of the LTO in the implementation of the Anti-Drunk and Drugged Driving Act of 2013.
The rest were distributed to all the regional offices of the LTO.
In 2020, the PNP returned 50 units and another 150 units in 2021 — all for the purpose of re-calibration which was vital and mandatory for any metering device.
The issue on the breath analyzers arose it was discussed during a Senate investigation.
“The issue on the breathalyzers is one of the issues that I came across with when I inquired about why they are not being used. This was when I assumed the top post (in the LTO) in July last year,” Mendoza said.
“But this was overtaken by more challenging issues, especially on the need to address the backlogs on license plates and the driver’s license, as well as the need to focus on the improvement of our digital platforms,” he added.
During the conduct of the initial canvassing, it was found out that the company that supplied over 600 units of breath analyzers in 2017 closed shop a few months after the delivery, making it difficult now to tap it for the recalibration.
Mendoza said over 500 units were already damaged and irreparable.
“What we are doing now is to save more than 200 units by looking for a shop that could do the job,” he said.
