The local government of Quezon City has temporarily suspended the imposition of fines as penalties against bikers caught not wearing helmets as the distribution of the free head safety gear is still ongoing for those who do not have.
Instead of October 15, the local government said, issuing citation tickets and imposing penalties against violators of its Ordinance No. SP-2942 will start on October 31.
This came after Mayor Joy Belmonte asked the Department of Public Order and Safety (DPOS) for its postponement to give "bicycle riders more time to comply with the regulation, and to enable the city government to reach out to other financially vulnerable riders."
For the meantime, DPOS head Ret. Gen. Elmo San Diego said that they "will only issue warnings and conduct information dissemination."
“Warning at paalala muna ang ating ibibigay sa mga mahuhuli sa mga susunod na araw bago natin tuluyang ipatupad ang ordinansa (We will only issue the violators warnings and reminders until we finally implement the ordinance,” San Diego said.
The DPOS also aims to give away about a hundred free helmets per day for the coming several days. So far, it has already distributed some 3,5000 safety gear.
Once the implementation of the ordinance takes effect, a P300, P500, and P1,000 fines shall be meted against its first, second, and third offenders, respectively.