The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has released a memorandum allowing private emission testing centers (PETCs) to conduct a maximum of 120 emission tests per day.
Under the memorandum dated July 6, 2020, the DOTr ordered the temporary suspension of Section 6.6 of the Department Order 2012-10 that sets a cap on the number of emission tests that PETCs can conduct per day.
“As such, in the exigency and best interest of public service, Section 6.6 of Department Order 2012, as amended, quoted hereunder, is hereby suspended until further notice,” the memorandum read.
Previously, emission testing centers were only allowed to conduct 32 tests for diesel vehicles and 48 tests for gasoline vehicles or a maximum of 80 vehicles per day.
The test duration includes motor vehicle identifications, encoding of motor vehicle details, actual testing of motor vehicle payments and issuance of CEC form.
The memorandum also stated that PETCs are now allowed to operate from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez earlier filed a bill urging the DOTr and the Land Transportation Office to suspend the smoke testing for motor vehicle registration until December 2020 in order to ease the burden of motorists amid the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.
Rodriguez said that following the easing of quarantine restrictions, more motorists who are processing their vehicle registrations are now lining up at emission testing centers.