QC antismoke belching tests find more flunkers than passers

DENR operatives use their smoke meter during a multisectoral, anti-smoke belching drive with members of the Anti-Smoke Belching Unit of the DOTC and the LTO. photo by Marianne Bermudez

A vast majority of vehicles subjected to carbon emission tests in Quezon City on Thursday did not pass standards set by the Clean Air Act.

In an antismoke belching operation conducted by the Land Transportation Office, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Quezon City local government, only 12 of the 88 vehicles flagged down on Commonwealth Avenue for testing made the grade, said Clarence Guinto, LTO National Capital Region director.

Guinto said Thursday’s operation served as a dry run for smoke tests to be conducted in Central Luzon, Calabarzon and Mimaropa regions.

First-time offenders face a fine of P2,000; a second offense, P4,000; while a third is penalized with a P6,000 fine and the suspension of the vehicle’s registration for a year.

The owners of the apprehended vehicles must show proof of compliance to the appropriate pollution control office before they could use those units again, Guinto stressed. —JHESSET O. ENANO