Deferment order on child car seat law requires bill from Congress — House leader

MANILA, Philippines — For the implementation of the child car seat law to be deferred, new legislation must be enacted, House Deputy Speaker Rufus Rodriguez said Thursday.

Rodriguez, a lawyer by profession, made the remark after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the deferment of the implementation of Republic Act No. 11229 or the Child Safety in Motor Vehicles Act, which requires children to use child restraint systems (CRS) or child car seats that are appropriate for their age, height, and weight.

“It’s Congress that passed the law requiring child car seats, and it’s Congress that can suspend its implementation,” Rodriguez said in a statement.

This echoes the House leader’s opinion during the meeting of the House committee on transportation on Wednesday where he likewise said that new legislation has to be passed to defer the implementation of the child car seat law.

Nonetheless, Rodriguez welcomed the deferment of the implementation of the child car seat law as well as the order not to make mandatory the Motor Vehicle Inspection System (MVIS).

The Child Safety in Motor Vehicles Act aims to keep children safe while aboard motor vehicles.

Under its implementing rules and regulations, children aged 12 years old and below and are under 4’11 are no longer allowed to take the front seat or to be left unattended inside a private vehicle.

This law, signed by President Duterte in December 2019, was supposed to take effect on Feb. 2.

READ: Duterte orders deferment of implementation of child car seat law

/MUF