‘Hell’ met Manila’s motorcycling community!
“MMDA Art” courtesy of Jun aka Amber / Model: Mario aka WaspUP
There is an uproar within the motorcycle community here in Metro Manila. The reason? MMDA‘s plan to require all riders to stick (or worse, paint!) their license plate numbers on both sides of their helmets. Why? Allow me to quote the full text of their press release:
Chairman Bayani Fernando of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), Metro mayors and the Philippine National Police (PNP) are considering enacting a resolution requiring motorcycle riders to paste up their license plate numbers on both sides of their helmets in a bid to curb the spate of snatching, hold-up and robbery cases perpetrated particularly by those riding on these two-wheeled motor bikes in tandem.
At yesterday’s regular Metro Manila Council meeting held at the MMDA office in Makati City, Fernando, together with Mayors Feliciano Belmonte Jr. of QuezonCity, outgoing Pasig City Mayor Vicente Eusebio, Valenzuela’s Sherwin Gatchalian, Las Pinas’ Imelda Aguilar, PNP representatives and other local chief executives, arrived at a consensus to draft a resolution urging local government units (LGUs) to implement the proposed “Dual Motorcycle/Helmet License Plate Numbers” policy for motorcycle riders plying along Metro Manila’s thoroughfares.
Fernando strongly recommended that a common regulation be enacted by the 17 LGUs stipulating that motorcycle riders with no license plate number on their helmets should constitute a criminal offense and not just a mere traffic violation.
“No plate on the helmet should carry with it stiffer penalties like impounding of the motorcycle and appropriate fines and charges because there is deliberate attempt by the felon to conceal his identity and avoid positive identification by the public,” he said.
PNP Gen. Rey Roderos reported before the body that high-profile cases of motorcycle-related robbery and snatching rose to 106 last year while 36 similar cases have been reported during the first quarter of 2007.
Under the proposed regulation, the license plate number on the helmet should be on a water-proof sticker permanently placed on both sides of the headgear and should be large enough to be seen by the public.
The MMDA chief recommended that the license plate sticker should be readable from a distance of 25 meters and should be placed 40 mm. high on the helmet.
The proposed statute will be mainly patterned after Marikina City which was the first to enact the same ordinance. Vice Mayor Marion Andres informed the council that a marked decrease in the number of motorcycle-related criminal cases has been noted since the city adopted the ordinance.
The council adopted MMDA Resolution No. 07-07 last February implementing the “No Face Shield” policy for back riders of motorcycles plying in the metropolis.
No face shield means the use of a helmet in such a way that the helmet’s shield for the face is tilted upward to reveal the face of the backrider.
LGUs impose a uniform penalty of P300 for violators of this regulation.
As you may have noticed, I hardly post political commentaries in this blog since I’d rather focus on the fun side of riding. But I just have to make a stand on this one. It’s ridiculous and it obviously doesn’t address the source of the problem. Do they actually think that hard thugs would be discouraged to do what they do simply by having their license plate number ‘announced’ through their helmet? Got no criminal mind, but it doesn’t take a genius to work around that.
This plan is full of loopholes and I don’t need to cite them one by one. The rest of the motorcycle community has spoken with an outpour of sentiments posted via blog comments and forum discussions. Here are just some:
- ‘Very funny, stupid,’ say bikers on MMDA’s proposal (GMA News)
- MMC issues restrictions in Motorcycles (Motorcycle Philippines)
- Bike riders are now felons (Motorcycle Philippines)
- Dr. Scoot weighs in on the MMC Resolution (Motorcycle Philippines)
- Plate numbers on helmets? (Motorcycle Asia)
- Metro LGUs to require motorcyclists’ plate number on their helmets (Vespinoy)
This uproar should not fall on deaf ears. I don’t know if the people from MMDA have gone online to read the community’s take on the matter. I do admire the MMDA’s chair for what he’s done in the past, but this one simply is a bad call. Should you want to personally email Chairman Bayani Fernando, you may do so in this address: chairman_bfmmda@yahoo.com.
UPDATE: As reported by a fellow rider, emails to the above address are already bouncing. I personally called the Office of the Chairman to get BF’s new email address. I’ve also forwarded my email to the said address just to be sure it’s working. Here it is: bayanibf_fernando@yahoo.com. Let me know if your email starts to bounce thru that address as well.
May he be enlightened…
-o-
{▫}
J0HNRANA
john[dot]rana[at]gmail[dot]com
It’s so easy to buy stickers… a felon can easily have these plate number stickers made according to their “newly acquired bikes” and do their dirty jobs.
You have to damit that they’re doing (what they think) is the best way to counter motorcycle related criminal activities… sad to say, they just have no idea how cheap helmets and stickers are. There really isn’t any way to avert criminal activity but to fight against poverty… at the end of it all, no one really wants to be a criminal, eh?
sorry for the typo: damit = admit
Are we to believe that the criminals will be ‘honest’ enough to put the correct number on their helmets?
This is crazy!
mukhang nabunot lang sa lottery ang proposal na ito, among other floating proposals.. ano kaya ang susunod
[...]I’m hoping that one of the many lawyer-bikers (and maybe even this judge-biker I met in Timog Katagalugan) will make the effort to contest this issue before the Supremes. (Obviously, I can’t do this, being only a freshman law student.) I’m fairly certain that our justices can be resolve this issue easily. [...]
have them ride motorcycles with those kinds of helmets on and try to guess the reaction of the people watching them…
M.M.D.A = S.T.U.P.I.D.
MMMDA is trying to solve a problem for and this is the best one they came up. I you guys just keep on critisizing but not suggesting any solution then you people have to shut up. the reaction of the people on this matter is not as important as the problem itself.Fighting poverty is a very long shot solution to solve motorcycle related crimes.”At the end of it all,no one really to be acriminal”- WTF kind of brain you got Garylamanilao? pea brain? or burak? even the rich people in BOC are committing a crime everyday. Who is your mother that told you that nobody wants to be a criminal is a dumbest thingking as you are.Obviously you and your family lack a simple critical thingking on your brain, better eat on time at huwag magpapalipas ng gutom.
reactions?, what reactions compared to a helpless woman have their bag snatch from this motocycle riding snatcher? this has been ongoing for a very long time and none of you smart talking people here have a sensible suggestion or solution and yet you people talk like you are the smartest people of the entire neighborhood. This bad elements are taking advantage of the helmet as a safety sheild but also they used to conceal their identity for commiting a crime. simple solution ito at hindi nagmula sa bunotan ng lottery as dimwit dimaks said.kayo? may naisip bang solution? kung wala then just shut you mouth until you have one.
My solution is better than MMDA but very bad for bad elements: A sticker in the front, left and right sides and at the back, indicating the name and operators licence numbers and registration of the vehiclein big letters that can be seen as far as 60 meters. if upon flaged down and found that the numbers are fake then the vehicle should be confiscated and the operator will be charged of frustrated holdapping and snatching.I’m sure you will think twice first before doning that cheap helmet with cheap stickers like dimwitted Garylamanilao is saying.
An alternative solution would be to buy the police coffee so they can stay awake a night. This would be a step up from the just acting as decorations around the city. Now i’m trying to remember another time where a class of people were forceable labled… Ah yes.. The death camps in Germany. Okay a bit of a stretch but it hints of the same classical solution by a class of leadership that presumes to be better than the rest of its citizens.
To Mario,
Sorry for the late reply, I didn’t check on this thread for quite sometime (I did a keyword search of garylamanilao on google and lo-and-behold I am shocked by your strong words.).
First off, in defense of my post… my point is that stickers can be easily fabricated, hence the proposed program itself is sketchy. Example, let’s say I’m a felon and that I want to do a criminal activity. It’s just logical to hide my true identity as much as I could possibly do. Best course of action is to falsify the plate number and match the helmet number along with it. Hell, I’d rather use a stolen bike so that paper trails would never point at me.
The whole idea of putting stickers is dimwitted, not me. Try to think about it, I hope you understand that such proposed ordinace is prone to abuse.
Regarding my notion of no one wanting to be a criminal.. The key point here is to “consciously want” to be a criminal, the argument is totally different when you want to be a criminal by means or as a criminal by ends. Most criminal activities (if not all) are mere means rather than ends… people at BOC and small fries do dirty jobs as means to other ends. Even hooligans do petty crimes for prestige. At the end of it all no one really wants to be disgraced, even for the price of power. Only deranged individuals do crime for the kicks.
That’s why I shun away from people that are too loud, trying to prove a point… I know that such display of misguided prowess is just there to mask discontent within themselves.
Whatever your issues are please try not to attack those who post their ideas on a particular subject matter. Previous attacks on me are really repuslsive, without basis nor due merit.
Think more, then think again.
Respectfully,
Gary Lamanilao
what the? i did not post those comments above, i’m neutral to this kind of issue and i’m a wait-and-see type of guy, even at the vespinoy thread wala akong post or reply regarding this topic… this is the second time i visited this page, wala pang mga comments nun kaya kinda shock nga eh… baka ibang mario yun? pano kaya nangyari? wala akong malay na may nangyari palang ganito…
to gary, i’m very sure i’m not the one who gave the comments above…
yo! john/bartmaniac…. paging.. paging…
john, ‘kaw na bahala mag explain…
gary, ibang mario yun… not me mario/WaspUP, kinda shock lang kanina sa email ko saying i got a message sa MCP… then itong topic ang naka-link…
ride safe mga bros
Hi Gary! The Mario who reacted in your first comment is not the same Mario (waspUP) in the picture above. I was told you made that wrong assumption by sending waspUP a private message regarding this matter.
I personally don’t mind debates here but just take it easy and no personal attacks please.
Mario (waspUP), pasensya na for being dragged in this mess. Salamat sa pag-intindi.
My bad guys…. I just got fuzzed up with the rampant insult by this “mario” kid (not WaspUP). Sorry for any inconvenience… this was the first time I got insulted in public forums/blogs in my 9 years of internet foruming.
Just as my buddies told me shrug it away, you just can’t please everybody. Them types are just too centrists, rude, and unyielding.
Again my sincerest apologies to WaspUP if I thought you were the same “mario”. I am looking forward to more vespa and non-vespa discussions in the future.
Respectfully,
Gary Lamanilao
no problem gary, i’m glad it’s clear already
wow! 9 years of foruming… me, almost a year – vespinoy and sometimes mcp.. a really daily habit hehe
again, no problem
let’s roll!!
john – thanks very much! kitakits
ride safe mga bros