The spate of fatal road accidents pointing to trucks as the culprits should be blamed on the negligence of the Land Transportation Office in ensuring the roadworthiness of vehicles, a Quezon City congressman said.
Rep. Winston Castelo said the LTO and its Motor Vehicle Inspection Service have both been failures in addressing the rising incidence of road accidents, many of them fatal, involving heavy trucks.
“The LTO appears to be a completely useless agency of government it might as well be abolished,” said Castelo, chairperson of the House Committee on Metro Manila Development.
Castelo issued the angry statement following the death of five persons who were victims of a truck that went out of control after losing its brakes in Batasan Hills, Quezon City. The place of accident is in Castelo’s congressional district.
According to him, the truck plowed through eight vehicles on the Batasan-San Mateo Road, killing the five victims and injuring at least 10 others.
“What is the use of the LTO’s MVIS if it cannot detect defects in vehicles – especially trucks and buses – before they are registered?” Castelo asked.
Castelo lamented that the MVIS merely conducts “token” inspection of vehicles and does not really care about their road worthiness. (Ben R. Rosario)
