Motoring Today Column

Feb 09, 2022

The Land Transportation Office (LTO) has just inaugurated the Central Command Center 3 (C3) while launching an app called CitiSend which citizens can use to report road accidents or crimes involving motor vehicles.

According to a press statement announcing the inauguration, theLTO sees the C3 andCitiSend as helping address the perennial problems ofroad accidents and motor vehicle related crimes.

It said the C3 will serve as the nerve center of the agency's Operations and Law Enforcement Service which will perform surveillance monitoring, coordination and alarm monitoring.

The C3 will also be the joint LTO and P hilippine National Police (PNP) Operations and Control Center , it added.

The CitiSend app, meanwhile, will be the road user's direct line of communication to the LTO, particularly the C3.

During the inauguration, Department of Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said that with CitiSend, one can directly report incidents affecting public safety or security, and expect the C3 to address or provide solutions to problems or issues reported.

While the press statement was not specific about what the C3 will be focusing on, it said this was established in compliance withRepublic Act No. 10883, otherwise known as the "New Anti-Carnapping Act of 2016"; and Republic Act No. 11235, " An Act Preventing and Penalizing the Use of Motorcycles in the Commission of Crimes by Requiring Bigger, Readable and Color-Coded Number Plates and Identification Marks, and for Other Purposes ".

According to DOTr Undersecretary for Road Transport and Infrastructure Mark Steven Pastor , the establishment of C3 signals the LTO becoming more active in the promotion of road safety beyond the issuance of driver's licenses and vehicle registration.

He also indicated that C3 and CitiSend are also expected to help fight crime involving motor vehicles.

Said Usec. Pastor: "This program will ensure-sa araw-araw, mababawasan ang road crashes, araw-araw mare-resolba ang mga krimen na may kinalaman sa ating motor vehicles."

How will the public, motorists and commuters in particular, take to and use CitiSend?

How will C3 respond to reports sent to it by the public through CitiSend?

These questions will lead to a third question: Will C3 and CitiSend fulfill the promise of helping reduce road accidents and crime involving motor vehicles?

Upbeat AC Motors

Can an automotive enterprise succeed even while overseeing five brands?

Yes, it can, if AC Motors is set as an example.

A member of the Ayala group, AC Motors handles five automotive brands - Volkswagen, Kia, andMaxus as distributors, and Honda and Isuzu as dealerships.

Congratulations are certainly deserved after AC Motors reported progress for the enterprise as a whole in 2021, a challenging year under an unrelenting CoViD-19 pandemic.

During the online media appreciation night, Antonio "Toti" Zara III, AC Motors president for automobile group , reported the group's progress and success in 2021.

Aside from introducing new models and successfully integrating online processes and applications in its marketing and customer service operations, AC Motors brands expanded dealership networks.

AC Motors expanded its total dealership network from85 outlets in 2020 to 95 in 2021, whichZara said resulted insales growth of 30 percent which outpaced the industry's 18 percent growth.

Zara said AC Motors will continue building on its strengths and grow while exploring "even more avenues of opportunity as parent company Ayala commits to a more sustainable future" .

An intriguing revelation is that AC Motors "will actively explore bringing in electric vehicles to the domestic market" .

Zara indicated what it will take for AC Motors to bring in EVs.

"Government must consider lowering import duties aside from excise tax privileges. Let us protect strategic sectors such as the PUV but allow easier importation of private vehicles. We need to make EV ownership more accessible," he said.

New E-Class Here

Mercedes-Benz aficionados should be celebrating the arrival of the New Mercedes Benz E-Class.

Said Frankie Ang, Chief Operating Officer at Auto Nation Group, Inc. , official distributor of Mercedes-Benz in the Philippines: "The new E-Class offers a refined sportiness, impressive design, and dynamism. It embodies a synthesis of emotion and intelligence.

"It is loaded with next-generation driver assistance systems, comfort features and safety technologies, that bring luxury experience to new levels and giving an even stronger impression."

Happy Motoring!!!

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