Gordon, LTO hold initial discussion on Motorcycle Law's IRR

To ensure that the implementing rules and regulation will reflect the spirit of the law, Senator Richard J. Gordon met with an official of the Land Transportation Office to discuss the IRR of Republic Act 11235 or the Motorcycle Crime Prevention Act.

Gordon and LTO Assistant Secretary Edgar Galvante met last week after the former wrote to the LTO to offer his experience in the successful implementation in 1985 of a public transport color-coded number system in Olongapo which could help ensure that the law would achieve its purpose.

"As the principal author and sponsor of RA 11235, otherwise known as the Motorcycle Crime Prevention Act, let me lend my experience, particularly on the color-coded number system, in drafting the IRR to make sure that it reflects the spirit of the law. Olongapo City has been implementing a public transport color-coded number system since 1985 when I was Mayor of the City, I would like to lend you the experience of Olongapo," he said in a letter dated March 22.

Gordon pointed out that when the color-coded number system was implemented in Olongapo City, crimes on board jeepneys and motorcycles dramatically decreased and having a central file helped passengers locate the drivers of the tricycles and jeepneys involved in a crime or accident and this is also what he envisioned in crafting the newly-enacted law.

"Nung inimplement ang color-coding scheme sa Olongapo, it dramatically improved the general order of the city. Ngayon, dito sa batas na ito, naniniwala ako na mababawasan ng husto, kung hindi man matigil, ang mga krimeng ginagawa ng mga masasamang loob na gumagamit ng motorsiklo to get away with the crimes they committed," he said.

The chairman of the Committee on Justice and Human Rights noted that for the last so many decades, motorcycles have become "crime machines," used for killing ordinary people, media personnel, lawyers, justices, judges, politicians and even policemen, with the Philippine National Police recording an average of four people killed by riding-in-tandem shooters each day.

"It is high time that we stop this and prevent criminals from killing with impunity using these motorcycles," he stressed, adding that out of over 4,000 motorcycle riding crimes or incidents in 2016, only eight cases (0.18%) were solved.