Riders’ Safety Advocates of the Philippines (RSAP) founder, retired col. Bonifacio Bosita has challenged Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) traffic czar Edison Bong Nebrija to file charges against him in connection with the back-rider dress code controversy.

"Doon po sa usurpation of authority, kung yun po ang paniniwala ni Col. Nebrija, mayroon naman pong legal team ang MMDA (As for the subject of usurpation of authority, if that's what Col. Nebrija believes, then MMDA has its own legal team)," Bosita said in a video message posted Easter Sunday, April 4 on the RSAP Facebook page.

"Para mas maging malinaw ito sa ating lahat at kung pinaniniwalaan po niya na ako ay may nalabag, itong sinasabi niyang usurpation of authority, totoo po na napakaganda na ako po ay sampahan niya ng kaso para ang korte ang magsasabi po kung ako ay nagkasala sa batas (For the sake of everyone's clarity, and if he really believes that I committed a violation, this usurpation of authority that he is saying, then truly it would be good if he files a case against me so that the court would get to determine if I broke the law)," he said in a calm manner.

Bosita, formerly of the Philippine National Police-Highway Patrol Group (PNP-HPG), was referring to a March 7 Facebook rant from Nebrija. In that post, Nebrija blasted Bosita for allegedly meddling with an MMDA traffic enforcer's apprehension of a motorcycle-riding couple along EDSA.

The enforcer ticketed the couple since the female back-rider wore slippers instead of shoes--a "dress code violation". Responding to the scene was Bosita, who lectured the enforcer of his wrongful apprehension and then told him to pay the female supermarket employee P500 as compensation for her lost wage that day.

Since then, an online debate has raged as to whether or not slippers-wearing back-riders should be ticketed based on traffic laws. MMDA has kept the enforcer's name from the media in order to protect him from bashers.

"Ilabas mo ang batas na nagtatalaga sayo ng kapangyarihan na pagbayarin ang enforcer namin ang isang araw na sweldo ng hinuli nila, baka usurpation of authority ka boy para iutos at ipilit sa enforcer namin yan (Show me the law that authorizes you to make our enforcers give salary compensation to the people they've apprehended. For you to force that on our enforcers, that could be usurpation of authority)," the MMDA traffic czar said in his post last month.

In his video message Sunday, Bosita couldn't provide Nebrija with the specific law that the latter was asking for but nonetheless claimed that the notion of compensation was widely known.

"Hindi ko lang po alam kung anong partikular na batas, pero alam po nating lahat na kapag ikaw ay may nagawang pagkakasala sa sinoman, ay ikaw ay maaaring panagutin ng batas para magbigay ng daños (I don't know which particular law, but we all know that if you have offended anyone, you may be penalized by law to compensate for damages)," he explained.

The RSAP founder also refuted allegations that he forced the MMDA enforcer to give money to the female worker, arguing that he merely "suggested" it to the enforcer.

"Malinaw na malinaw po sa video, kaharap po ang iba pang traffic enforcers ng MMDA, hindi ko po inutusan at lalong hindi ko po pinilit ang kanilang enforcer para bayaran itong mag-asawang riders (It's very clear in the video, in front of the other MMDA traffic enforcers, I didn't direct him to pay the rider couple and I most especially didn't force him to do so)," Bosita said, referring to a viral video of the apprehension.

"Malinaw po doon, iminungkahi ko na dapat ay bayaran niya itong isang araw nitong back-rider dahil sa kanya pong maling panghuhuli (It's clear there, I suggested that he pay the the one-day wage of the back-rider for his erroneous apprehension), " he said.