DOTr: No motorcycle backriders during quarantine

MANILA, Philippines — Emphasizing that social distancing “applies to all,” the Department of Transportation (DOTr) clarified that it was not allowing motorcycle backriders throughout the monthlong Luzon-wide lockdown to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

In a message to reporters, Assistant Transport Secretary Goddes Libiran said the transport and interior departments had enforced the ban as part of the enhanced community quarantine guidelines effective on March 16.

“When you’re inside your own home, you’re free to do whatever you want or follow your own rules,” Libiran said. “But if you’re outside, especially when you’re on roads and public places, you have to toe the regulations and policies set by the government to uphold order and uniformity.”

Libiran issued the clarification after several motorcycle riders were apprehended by traffic enforcers not only for violating the social distancing rule but also for violating the regulation that only one person per household was allowed to go outside to buy food or run important errands.

She also echoed Interior Secretary Eduardo Año’s decision against the use of tricycles, even for ferrying health workers in Pasig City, saying the principle of social distancing “also applies to this issue.”