TACLOBAN CITY – The Federation of Eastern Visayas Motorcyclist Association (FEVMA) Incorporated has thrown their support to the Motorcycle Crime Prevention Act but with some reservations.
This was disclosed by the group’s president, Allan Tajarros, citing the proposal under Republic Act 11235 to have a bigger plates placed at the motorcycle as one of the reasons why they are not giving full support to the newly-enacted law authored by Senator Richard Gordon.
“We are not against this law. There are some provisions of the law that we feel we are being discriminated,” Tajarros said.
He particularly cited the provision mandating for the use of a bigger, color-coded number plates that are readable from the front, back and side from a distance of at least 15 meters should be placed on the motorcycle.
Under the law, violators will be fine P50,000 up to P100, 000 and a prison term of six months to six years.
“Every brand of motorcycle has its own design and the current design of most motorcycles we have here in the region is not suitable to comply with this law. Maybe in the future design of the manufacturers, this law is implementable,” Tajarros said.
The group has 1,500 members all over the region.
Tajarros said that Sen. Gordon should have first consulted the motorcycle riders before coming up with the legislation.
But since it’s already a law, they hope that the controversial provision mandating for a bigger plates would be removed.
Jobert Christian Bolaños, chairman, Motorcycle Rights Organization, for his part, said that if the law is only applicable to some motorcycles, it should not be implemented at all.
Bolaños said that there is a provision in the law stating that if a sticker or plate could not be placed in front of the motorcycle, the owner could not register it.
“It’s okay to have a bigger font, but our suggestion is we should follow the European standard because they had been using that type of plates. However, our fear is this is not applicable to all because of the design of motorcycles,” he said.
The implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the law as contained under Republic Act 11235 is yet to be formulated with the assistance from the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and the motorcycle organizations are hopeful that some of the provision they deemed inappropriate for the motorcycle riders will be change.
“Definitely, when we start formulating the IRR we will consult all the stakeholders not only the region but in the whole country,” Ledwino Macariola, LTO-8 operations chief. (ROEL T.AMAZONA)
