Detained opposition Sen. Leila M. de Lima urged colleagues in the Senate Saturday to revisit Republic Act (RA) No. 11235 or the Motorcycle Crime Prevention Law to prevent its adverse impact on the millions of law-abiding riders and motorcycle owners, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
She has filed Senate Resolution (SR) No. 469 seeking a review. She maintained that the government should focus their limited resources on apprehending and prosecuting criminals instead of overburdening law-abiding motorcycle owners.
De Lima underscored the need to determine the veracity of the argument that bigger plates would ultimately result in motorcycles becoming unsafe for the riders, pedestrians, and other road users.
A month after signing it into law in March 2019, President Duterte asked Congress to reconsider the provisions pertaining to the size and the material of the front number plate and called for the reduction of the penalties on certain violations under the law.
Sen. Richard J. Gordon, principal author of the bill when it was passed in the Senate, has been urging government to implement the law, citing criminals riding in tandem and shooting or injuring their preys.
“With the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, not only are government offices like the Land Transportation Office operating at reduced capacity, but the use of motorcycles have become more prevalent following the ban on, or limited operations of, public transportation,” De Lima said.
“Before the government can penalize those who could not comply with the strict obligations under RA No. 11235, there must first be a determination that the LTO is capable of meeting the accompanying bureaucratic requirements under this law, lest this would be tantamount to requiring an impossible task of the motorcycle owners,” she added.
RA 11235, also known as the “Doble Plaka” law, requires all types of motorcycles to have bigger number plates in the front and back as it sets fines of up to
P100,000 and imprisonment for violators.
LTO chief Edgar Galvante signed the 13-page Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of RA 11235. It stipulates that the LTO should issue a set of bigger, readable, and color-coded number plate for every motorcycle, which should consist of a metal number plate to be installed at the rear of a motorcycle, and a decal number plate to be displayed in its front, last May 11.
According to the IRR, the front decal will be 135 millimeters wide and 85 mm tall while the rear plate, which shall be made from a “suitable and durable aluminum substrate material,” will be 235 mm wide and 135mm tall.