MANILA, Philippines – Land Transportation Office (LTO) chief Virginia Torres said Tuesday the agency's crackdown against erring private emission testing centers (PETCs) is “fair and square” and that justice will be served for those that will be proven to have violated the Clean Air Act for issuing falsified certificate of emission compliance.

Torres made the clarification in the wake of a complaint made by the Association of Private Emission Testing Center Owners for Environmental Protection to the Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC), alleging that the LTO has been unfair in the implementation of its campaign against erring PETC operators.

In its letter to DoTC Secretary Jose “Ping” de Jesus, the group reportedly claimed that the LTO PETC Adhoc Committee has been training its guns on the majority of their members.

But Torres pointed out that the LTO has already invited all the PETC operators in several dialogues to remind and appeal to them to stop the illegal practice of non-appearance.

“No one can accuse us of singling out a particular group because all of them were invited in the said dialogues and every issue that were raised during the discussions were duly noted and in fact we are now taking some concrete actions on their issues and concerns,” she explained.

Torres said there is no reason for any particular group to complain because what they are doing is merely to implement the law “but if they are engaged in any unlawful activity then they will surely be affected by the crackdown.”

“As I was saying before, I will see to it that under my watch we will go after all the erring PETCs that would not want to abide by the Clean Air Act law” she said.

“But I would like to assure all the stakeholders and industry players that the crackdown (against erring PETCs) is not respecter of any group or individual. We will do it fair and square and no particular group will be singled out, so if you believe that your operation is within the bounds of the law, then you have nothing to worry about,” Torres said.

Just recently, the LTO’s renewed campaign has resulted in the closure of two PETCs. Ordered closed were the Fernandino Testing Center in Sto. Domingo, Quezon City, and the HR Eco Testing Center in Sta. Maria, Bulacan.

At least eight more PETCs could also face closure in the coming days if it is proven that they are also engaged in the issuance of questionable smoke test results. The LTO has also fined at least 18 more PETCs for various procedural violations.