Marcos to MMDA: Lift penalties for e-vehicles

ONE-MONTH GRACE PERIOD A Metropolitan Manila Development Authority enforcer supervises the loading of impounded e-vehicles on a tow truck after these were apprehended on Thursday on Quirino Avenue in Parañaque City. This was before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered a one-month halt to the meting out of penalties against violators of the e-vehicle ban on major Metro roads to give way to an information drive. —NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Thursday to suspend for a month the crackdown on electronic bikes and tricycles caught passing through major thoroughfares in the National Capital Region (NCR).

“Today, I issued the order for the MMDA and all local government units in Metro Manila to give a grace period to drivers of e-bikes and e-trikes and other affected drivers who are plying some selected streets of the metropolis,” Marcos said on X (formerly Twitter).

READ: Marcos orders MMDA: Grace period before e-trike ban

“I have seen on the news how the enforcement against electric vehicles on national roads has been very strict and I can’t help but feel for them,” he added.

“We must give [e-bike and e-trike users] the chance to become more familiar with the new rules so they can properly adjust,” Marcos said, noting the “heavy” fine imposed on violators.

During the monthlong grace period, violators will not be ticketed and fined P2,500, while traffic enforcers may not impound vehicles that are not registered or operated by someone without a driver’s license, he added.

According to the President, violators should just be told which roads they can use and also reminded of the new policy, which is meant to ensure their safety and order on the roads.

But he clarified that the grace period did not mean that these types of vehicles were no longer banned from plying, traversing or navigating circumferential and radial roads in NCR.

READ: Drive vs e-vehicles, trikes on major roads nets 131

The MMDA began apprehending e-vehicles like e-bikes and e-trikes, as well as tricycles and pedicabs plying major thoroughfares in Metro Manila starting on April 15, amid the high number of accidents involving these types of vehicles.

According to the President, the government needs to conduct a massive information campaign to make drivers of e-vehicles aware of the prohibition.

MMDA to hold briefing

As of press time, the MMDA had yet to react to the President’s order except to announce that MMDA acting Chair Romando Artes would be holding a press conference on the matter on Friday.

Under the implementing guidelines that Artes issued last month, the MMDA chief, “based on extreme urgency and necessity, may suspend the operation of MMDA Regulation 2024-002, wholly or partially.”

The latest data from the MMDA showed that as of Thursday, the drivers of 201 vehicles were issued citation tickets and fined P2,500 each for violating the ban. The apprehended vehicles were 111 tricycles, 4 pedicabs, 51 e-trikes, 34 e-bikes and a light electric vehicle. Of the 201 vehicles, 69 were impounded.

Ira Cruz, director of AltMobility PH, a group advocating sustainable and inclusive transport systems, welcomed the President’s decision.

“We see this as an indication that the President listens to public sentiment. We hope MMDA takes the President’s lead in incorporating humanity [into] policies. [We are] reiterating our call for a comprehensive plan to start addressing transport issues,” Cruz said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).