Talisay official offers LTO help on helmets

A TALISAY City official urged the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to decentralize the implementation of the Helmet Law here in Cebu in order to speed up the process.

In an interview with reporters, Talisay City Vice Mayor Alan Bucao said he has doubts on the capability of DTI in having Cebu’s motorcycle helmet owners registered just before the enforcement of the law starts on Aug. 1.

DTI is the main enforcer when it comes to putting the stickers on helmets that passed the standards set by the Motorcycle Helmet Act of 2009.

Bucao, who chairs the City of Talisay Traffic Operations and Development Authority (CT-TODA), told reporters that with less manpower and with so many helmet owners in Cebu, he doubts that DTI accomplish it on time.

He said that with little time left, DTI should have made expeditious means to speed up the process of registering motorcycle helmets.

Bucao said that in Talisay City’s case, with more than 10,000 motorcycle riders in the city and with more numbers living outside Talisay, he doubts that DTI can fulfill its mandate before Aug. 1.

Bucao suggested that rather than doing the job alone, DTI should have coordinated with the local government units in Cebu in conducting satellite helmet registrations in their areas as a way to expedite the process.

Bucao said manpower is no problem when it comes to the LGUs provided that they can be trained by DTI on how to distinguish helmets that passed the standards set by them.

“We can hire five people to be trained by the DTI and the LTO (Land Transportation Office) on how to provide stickers to those who want to be registered,” Bucao said.

Complains

Just weeks before the implementation of the said law, a lot of motorcycle owners in the region had been complaining as to how the DTI has been conducting its registration for the past few weeks.

Most complaints were made often due to the lack of manpower and how DTI will only register specific brands of helmet.

Meanwhile, POLICE Senior Supt. Rey Lyndon Lawas said he will give motorists in Lapu-Lapu City six months to comply with the Helmet Law.

“We will give them ample time to comply,” he told reporters yesterday.

Lawas, chief of the Lapu-Lapu City Police Office, said that not all motorists can readily buy the helmets the DTI prescribes.

Mayor Paz Radaza shares the same sentiment. In a news conference yesterday, she said not all motorists can afford the standard helmets, which are a bit expensive.

“Depende ra man na sa bulsa sa magpalit ug helmet (It depends on the helmet buyer’s financial resources),” she said.

She said, however, that the City will continue to penalize motorcycle riders who are not wearing helmets.

Information drive

Lawas pointed out that implementing the law does not mean penalizing violators right away. He said that in implementing the law, the police can start by informing motorists about it.

Motorists, he said, should be given enough time to raise money to buy the standard helmets. They may be able to buy the standard helmets within six months, he said.

“We will still reach that stage where we will have to strictly enforce the law,” he said.