MANILA - The Commission on Audit has told the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority to "act as a role model" and register its 399 vehicles that failed to comply with inspection requirements in 2019.

Republic Act No. 4136 or the Land Transportation and Traffic Code mandates that all vehicles must be registered, COA noted in its 2019 audit report on the MMDA.

The Transport Division (TD) of the MMDA disclosed to the audit team that only 132 vehicles, including motorcycles, service vehicles and trucks, had been registered in 2019 out of a total of 531 vehicles.

The head of the TD unit said that the non-registration of vehicles was due to several reasons, including defective lights, faulty electrical wirings, unsightly body, failed smoke emission, among others.

Plate numbers from previously purchased vehicles as well as necessary documents were also unavailable and some users were not prioritizing the registration of their vehicles as they were more focused on operations.

“As one of the Implementing Agencies for Traffic Enforcement, MMDA should act as a role model for the public and to follow strictly the rules and regulations prescribed by LTO (Land Transportation Office) for motor vehicle renewal/registration,” the audit team said.

On its own website, the MMDA lists “unregistered motor vehicle” as one of traffic violations with a corresponding fine of P450 per offense.

The audit also revealed that 6 MMDA vehicles were still registered under the name of their previous owners.

Three of the vehicles were from the Department of Public Works and Highways while the other 3 are from a transport services company and a construction firm.

The TD head informed the audit team that the transfer of Certificate of Registration to MMDA is currently being handled by the transport company while the documents of the vehicle from the construction firm were not available.

Auditors also noted that in 2019, the MMDA paid P101,237.06 in penalties for the late registration and renewal of motor vehicles which the TD head attributed either to the late payments of insurance policies or defects found on the vehicles.

The MMDA management assured the audit team that the matter of non-registration of vehicles is already being handled by the agency’s transport unit.

“Management responded that the Transport Unit and Supply Division had coordinated regarding the master list and actual status of vehicles to ensure that all MMDA owned vehicles were promptly renewed. Transfer of ownership from previous owners were also being processed,” the audit team noted in the report.

A copy of the report, which can be downloaded from the COA website, was received by the office of MMDA Chairman Danilo Lim on Sept. 11, 2020.