The Joint Task Force COVID Shield will prepare the guidelines that would be observed in allowing motorcycle backriders to pass the police and military checkpoints across the country.
(Jansen Romero / MANILA BULLETIN)
Police Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, commander of the JTF COVID Shield, said the guidelines would be based on the decision of the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 to grant the request of motorcycle riders to allow them to backride their spouses and partners due to the transportation problems brought by strict implementation of the quarantine protocols.
Motorcycles with backriders will be allowed to pass the police and military Quarantine Control Points (QCPs) starting Friday.
In crafting the guideline, Eleazar said the focus would be on the safety of the motorcycle riders: “We want to make sure that the barrier between the driver and the passenger is strong. We don’t want them to figure in any accident later because of the weak installation of the barrier,” said Eleazar.
Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said that the motorcycle that would be allowed to have back-riders are those similar to the prototype made by the Bohol Provincial Government which has a barrier between the driver and the passenger, and a handle attached to the barrier for the safety of the passenger.
Second, Eleazar said that they want to ensure that the backriders are indeed a couple or a partner, noting that some riders may try to circumvent the rules.
“Some of our kababayn would make an alibi that they can think of just to circumvent the rules even if they are fully aware that what they are doing is wrong,” said Eleazar.
Eleazar said that he had already instructed the supervisors of the QCPs to check all the passing motorcycles in order to make sure that the two riders are indeed couples.
“But in busy roads when the checking would cause traffic jams, they would be allowed to pass unchecked but would be subjected to random inspection at the mobile checkpoints that would be set up by the PNP-Highway Patrol Group (HPG),” said PLt. Gen. Eleazar.
He said he had already coordinated with PNP-HPG Director Brig. Gen. Eliseo Cruz to deploy HPG personnel for the conduct of random mobile checkpoints especially in Metro Manila and other urban areas.
Eleazar also advised the motorcycle riders to be ready with their identification papers and other documents proving that they are indeed a couple and living in the same address to facilitate the checking at the QCPs.