By Azer Parrocha/PNA
MANILA — A transport official has reassured motorcycle riders that the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of a law requiring bigger motorcycle number plates will undergo public consultation.
Land Transportation Office (LTO) chief Edgar Galvante made this remark following the backlash from motorcycle riders who opposed the newly-signed law expected to prevent the use of such vehicles in the commission of crimes using motorcycles.
“To those who have concerns over the implementation of this law, especially riders, just think, what can you do to help? If you show a good example of following the law, others will be encouraged to do the same,” Galvez said in an interview over Radyo Pilipinas on Friday (March 29).
“We just want to reiterate, in crafting the IRR of this law, we will ask about your experiences, your knowledge, so that you can suggest how we can make the implementation of this law more effective,” he added.
Last week, thousands of motorcycle riders staged a unity ride along Edsa in Quezon City and other parts of the country to protest the bigger license plates.
Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Assistant Secretary Kris Ablan, for his part, insisted that aside from preventing crimes, the new law will also help protect motorcycle riders from road accidents.
“We have to act on all of these deaths. We have these plates na (that are) visible, it’s for your own protection,” Ablan said in the same radio interview.
Citing Senator Richard Gordon, who authored and sponsored the “Motorcycle Crime Prevention Act,” Ablan said motorcycle riders should give the law a chance.
On March 8, President Rodrigo R. Duterte signed into law Republic Act 11235 or the Motorcycle Crime Prevention Act mandating the LTO to produce bigger number plates readable from the front, back, and side of the motorcycle from a distance of at least 15 meters.
Under the new law, law enforcers can apprehend motorcycle riders and seize their vehicles if it does not have the proper number plate. The motorcycle’s owner can only retrieve it after complying with the requirement.
