Sunday, July 01, 2007 Put license plate number on motorcycle helmets, metro body insists
MOTORCYCLE riders in the metropolis have other choice but to follow the resolution passed by the Metro Manila Council (MMC) last week requiring them to post the license plates of their vehicle on their helmets for easy identification by the public.
Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) executive director Angelito Vergel de Dios said the agency will strictly implement the resolution of the MMC starting at the end of July.
"Whether they like it or not, they have to follow the law. It was recommended by the PNP and we will implement it immediately after 15 days that it is published in at least two newspapers of general circulation" de Dios said.
De Dios said MMDA officials led by MMDA chairman Bayani Fernando are not at all threatened by the threat of the Motorcycle Federation Philippines (MFP) directors Atoy Sta. Cruz and Jojo Medina that their more than two million members will not support the re-election bid in the 2010 elections of the mayors who approved the resolution.
"We are not affected at all. What are two million voters? We have a total of 80 million people in the country. Another question is - is Chairman Fernando running for public office by 2010? Trillanes got 12 million in his senatorial bid," de Dios said.
Cruz and Medina expressed their opposition to the resolution requiring all motorcycle owners and riders to paste up the license plates of their motorcycles on both sides of their helmets.
The MMC, the policy-making body of the MMDA, passed a resolution last June 22 requiring all motorcycle owners and riders to post the license plates of their motorcycle on both sides of their helmets to curb snatching, holdup and robberies perpetrated by motorcycle-riding men in Metro Manila.
Fernando had suggested to the Metro Manila mayors the enactment of a common resolution stipulating that the failure to put the license plate numbers on motorcycle helmets should be treated as a criminal offense and not as a mere traffic violation to thwart criminals from using motorcycles in the commission of crimes.
"No plate on the helmet should carry with it stiffer penalties like impounding the motorcycle and appropriate fines and charges because there is a deliberate attempt by the felon to conceal his identity and avoid positive identification by the public" Fernando said.
Chief Superintendent Rey Roderos, who represented the PNP in the MMC meeting, said cases of motorcycle-related robbery and snatching rose to 106 last year while 36 similar cases have been reported during the first half of this year. (AH/Sunnex)
