Inventory revealed unserviceable breathalyzers for the conduct of RA 10585
After the passage of Republic Act 10586 or the Anti-Drunk and Drugged Driving Act of 2013, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) purchased hundreds of breath analyzers – a device for measuring breath alcohol content – for the conduct of the said law. These breathalyzers, according to the LTO, were purchased in two batches in 2015 and 2017.
Now, after a thorough inventory of the agency, it was revealed that out of the total 756 breathalyzers, only 288 units can be repaired and used for operations while the rest are going to the trash bin.
“These breath analyzers were not bought under this administration. The first batch of 150 units were bought in 2015 for PHP 10.2 million at PHP 68,000 per unit, while the rest of the more than 600 units were bought in 2017 for more than PHP 38,000 per unit. The total cost of these two procurements for a total of 756 units of breath analyzers were PHP 33.8 million,” said LTO Assistant Secretary, Atty. Vigor Mendoza II.
Based on the assessment, only 288 of the 756 units could be fixed and recalibrated.
“Our first objective is really to fix the purchased breath analyzers because what is important right now is to re-distribute them to our personnel on the ground for the strict implementation of the Anti-Drunk and Drugged Driving Act of 2013,” said Mendoza. “The second is to review what happened in the past to determine if there were lapses and who could be held liable for that,” he added.
Currently, the LTO Chief said they are conducting an analysis if it would be more practical to buy new breath analyzers than have them fixed and recalibrated. Mendoza also assured the public that if the LTO would purchase brand new breath analyzers, the procurement process would be transparent, and would only buy the cheapest yet quality units for the government.
