THERE is an urgent need for a local government ordinance to have the plate number of a motorcycle also printed in the rider's helmet as a precautionary measure to deter any criminal act.

Philippine National Police (PNP) Regional Director Isagani Cuevas stressed this during a forum on helmets and visors Monday at the Grand Hotel. The forum was sponsored by the Bureau of Product Standards, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), PNP, and Land Transportation Office (LTO).

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Cuevas admitted that a rash of killings by motorcycle-riding assassins could have been avoided or minimized if the killers are immediately identified through wearing of helmets with plate number markings.

He said an ordinance to be enacted by the City Council, Provincial Board, or Municipal Council could help a lot in identifying perpetrators. This could also give more teeth to the "no helmet, no travel policy" being implemented by the PNP-Highway Patrol Group in its campaign on wearing of helmets by motorcycle riders.

As such, the LTO authorized local police operatives as deputized agents to catch violators and implement laws on moving and non-moving vehicles, Cuevas said.

DTI Regional Director Dominic Abad said his office can only request motorcycle dealers and sellers to help in packaging the helmet with the sale of a motorcycle unit.

Abad said he will also ask the help of local motorcycle clubs and other organizations to help in the campaign for helmet markings, and Western Visayas will be the first to volunteer in the campaign. There is no law yet that provides penalties for motorcycle riders not wearing helmets with plate number markings, he added.

LTO Regional Director Gerard Camiña, for his part, said that Memorandum Order AHS-2008-01 issued on September 30, 2008 provides revised rules and regulations for the use and operation of motorcycles on highways.

However, the LTO chief said there shall be a five-year moratorium imposed on the mandatory use of prescribed helmets starting September 30, 2008 until September 30, 2013.

The LTO order specifies that the horn, brake, side mirror, headlights, and turn signals are not accessories but are basic parts of a motorcycle unit or scooter. The order also states that there should only be one back rider and he/she must also wear helmets.

The order provides a penalty of P1,000 for the rider or back rider not wearing a prescribed helmet, and an accessory penalty for the driver who will not attend a seminar on traffic safety management to be conducted by the LTO.