Four people are killed every day in the Philippines by killers “riding in tandem” on a motorcycle. Legislators are hoping that by making license plates of motorcycles bigger, these killers could more easily be traced.
Sen. Richard Gordon filed Senate Bill 1397 or the Motorcycle Crime Prevention Act of 2017, which was recently passed on third and final reading at the Senate, and second reading at the House of Representatives.
Land Transportation Office (LTO) 7 Director Victor Emmanuel Caindec told SunStar Cebu that Gordon discussed the matter extensively with officials of the LTO and the Department of Transportation (DOTr).
Caindec believes that the bill could help solve the problem of killings perpetrated by persons on motorcycles.
“The release of dimension is important so the agency can immediately procure and produce the exact size of the motorcycle plate number,” Caindec said.
During a Senate investigation, it was learned that a person who witnessed a riding-in-tandem killing could not identify the plate number in court, resulting in the dismissal of cases.
Court
Even in cases when a witness has identified the plate number, there are things the court will consider: distance, size of the plate number, and the ability of the witness to read the plate number from that distance. If the witness said he saw the plate number from 14 meters away, a vision examination may determine that he could only read within six meters. That would create doubt in the case.
“The Gordon Bill addressed all these issues, prompting the Senate to pass it on third and final reading. Last week, the House of Representatives passed it on second reading,” Caindec said.
Gordon said once the Lower House passes it on third and final reading, they can hold a bicameral conference, then transmit the bill to President Duterte for signing into law hopefully before the year ends or even earlier.
Caindec said the machines that will produce the motorcycle plate numbers is already here and that the LTO is just waiting for the law to be passed so the agency can use the specifications listed in the bill. (EOB)