A COUNCILOR in Bacolod City is urging the city police force to strictly enforce the riding-in-tandem ordinance.
This came after the killing of Filipino-Chinese businessman Alex Yao, who was shot dead by unidentified motorcycle-riding assailants inside the compound of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Shrine (Redemptorist Church) on Tuesday night, February 19. His wife sustained injuries.
City Ordinance 832, series of 2017, an ordinance regulating the practice of riding-in-tandem on motorcycles, made it unlawful for any driver and his back rider to ride in tandem on a motorcycle on any given day from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.
“If this ordinance was strictly implemented, it saves many lives and properties,” said Councilor Dindo Ramos, vice chairperson of the City Council committee on police matters.
“If we are enforcing our ordinance, we can solve and reduce the crime incidents,” he added.
He said there were several unsolved cases in Bacolod City, especially the shooting incidents involving riding-in-tandem suspects, adding it has become very alarming.
In the previous months, the village chief of Barangay 16 and a lawyer in Bacolod were also killed by unidentified assailants while Councilor Ricardo Tan and his wife were also injured in an ambush in Barangay Alangilan.
Ramos said the Bacolod City Police Office should intensify its visibility patrol to maintain the peace and order in the city.