The Commission on Audit has released its annual findings on the Department of Transportation. While the previous 2017 report shows the same problems plaguing the agency, for 2018, Art Tugade and his team were able to come up with improvements.

The full 222-page-plus report can be accessed here, but there are some points worth highlighting:

• A total of 10,514,201 vehicles were registered in 2018, that’s up 949,095 units from 2017. 
• At a glance, this figure seems alright until you figure about that two leading manufacturer groups, CAMPI (four-wheel) and MDPPA (two-wheel) already report sales of 401,803 and 1,580,926 units respectively. Even if the figures of smaller industry players were accounted for, it would not account for the huge disparity. This means either there are a lot of units sitting at dealer lots unsold, or there are a ton of unregistered vehicles moving around.
• Extrapolating the LTO’s interconnection charges with the LTFRB, it there is a total of 949,095 vehicles for hire registered in the government’s system.
• The DOTr says transaction times in the issuance of motor vehicle registration and driver’s licenses has been cut down by 7.15 percent.
• 100 percent of motor vehicle registration applications were accomplished in the reglementary period as are the issuance of driver’s licenses and students permits.
• As of July 25, 2018, a total of 6,009,355 five-year Driver’s License cards have been handed out and 5,623,852 were printed on cards. This leaves around 7 percent still holding paper licenses.
• There is a 1.47 percent decrease in the number of apprehensions per major offense, though the number of Temporary Operator’s Permit (TOP) in lieu of a confiscated driver’s license is up 106,663 to a total of 675,194. The COA also reports that there is a non-compliance in the issuance of TOPs resulting in several booklets being unaccounted for.
• The LTFRB made available a total of 150,542 Pantawid Pasada Cards (PPC) for distribution, totaling P 752 million. Only 71,876 of these cards or 47.74 percent were distributed.
• Only 1.40 percent of Public Utility Vehicles (PUV) have been modernized from the DOTr’s set target of 11 percent, and only 17.52 percent of the total 281 million pesos (P 49.38 million) budget was transferred to the implementing agencies for the PUV modernization program. In fact, no funds were released in 2018 because of the DOTr’s decision to activate The National and Regional Program Management Offices for the Implementation of the PUVMP. Activation aside though, up to now, this program management office hasn’t been created.
• Increase in public transport service ridership, including TNVS is up 98 percent from the DOTr’s target of 25 percent. Unfortunately, the percentage of non-compliant public transportation franchise holders (audited/monitored/penalized) is up 5 percent to 15 percent.
• Last year, the DOTr procured dashboard cameras and alcohol breathalyzers which were left unissued. This year, the dashboard cameras and alcohol breathalyzers were transferred to the MMDA.
• There are still 3,276 units left in the LTO’s impounding lots, down from 11,695 units last year.