MANILA, Philippines — A total of 108 individuals, 85 of whom have died, have so far fallen victim to riding-in-tandem crimes this year, Senator Richard Gordon said Tuesday.
Gordon bared this figure as the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, which he chairs, resumed its hearing into alleged anomalies in the implementation of the Motorcycle Crime Prevention Act.
“Ang Motorcycle Crime Prevention Act ay ginawa para masawata ang krimen at ang walang habas na patayan gamit ang motorsiklo,” the senator said.
“Ang pagamit ng motor sa pagpatay ay tinuturing na isa sa mga aggravating circumstances sa Revised Penal Code…Kahit na mas mataas ang parusa sa riding in tandem, ang tanong may nahuhuli ba?” he added.
According to data from the monitoring done by Gordon’s office, there have been 107 victims of riding-in-tandem perpetrators.
Of this number, 84 were killed, 21 were wounded while two were unhurt.
The victims include 60 are civilians, 11 are police officers, 16 are government officials, one government employee, one is a teacher and another is a unionist, according to Gordon.
Four businessmen, two lawyers, two farmers, one engineer and one pastor also fell victim to riding-in-tandem crimes.
Gordon also mentioned a recent killing on Monday night, April 19, increasing the number of victims to 108.
The senator likewise cited data from the Philippine National Police (PNP), which showed that a total of 19,277 crimes involving riding-in-tandem suspects were recorded from 2016 to Jan. 2021
These motorcycle incidents, according to PNP figures, involve murder, homicide, physical injuries, rape, robbery, carnapping and theft.
Gordon has repeatedly lamented the “very slow” implementation of the motorcycle law, which is seen to curb riding-in-tandem killings and other crimes.
The motorcycle law seeks to secure and safeguard the citizenry from crimes committed using motorcycles by imposing bigger, readable, and color-coded number plates to make it easier for eyewitnesses to identify the number plates of motorcycles used in crimes that they saw.