Mandaluyong law vs bike-riding criminals restricts male riders only

MANILA, Philippines–Only women and children can ride together without undergoing scrutiny. Male bikers need papers.

Despite the early criticism, the Mandaluyong City government is bent on implementing an ordinance supposedly designed to deter motorcycle-riding criminals by allowing only women and children to share a bike and requiring men to carry certain documents if they wish to do so.

In an interview Wednesday, Mayor Benhur Abalos said the original ordinance—which requires riders, regardless of gender, to present documents proving their identities and blood relations—had been tweaked.

The new version now allows two females or a female and a child to ride together without presenting such proof. The documents—mainly IDs and birth certificates—will be required only for male riders.

The amendment is set for approval Monday next week and the measure will be “pilot-tested” in the city for six months. During this trial period, violators will not be penalized but only face inspection and questioning, Abalos told the Inquirer.

Abalos admitted that the ordinance drew jeers from the public when first reported in the media last week. Some denounced it as antipoor and unconstitutional, but the mayor maintained that “the city has police power. Implementing this ordinance is within the power of the local government.”

Mandaluyong’s population balloons to 1.2 million during the day, he said, yet the city only has 236 policemen to look after their safety and the ordinance would make their job “easier.”

“If they see two men riding tandem, they can flag them down and confirm their identities,” he explained, adding that the ordinance was modeled after a law in Colombia, which has a high rate of crimes attributed to bike-riding gunmen.

Abalos noted that the Eastern Police District—which covers the cities of Mandaluyong, Pasig, San Juan and Marikina—recorded 561 incidents involving bike-riding criminals from January to March this year, a 125-percent increase from the 249 cases recorded in the same period in 2013. Of the latest number, only five percent resulted in arrests.

Mandaluyong is not alone in looking for what may be considered unorthodox ways of dealing with such threats.

In Quezon City, a proposed ordinance awaiting the signature of Mayor Herbert Bautista requires motorcycle users to wear vests that convey the letters and numbers of the bike’s license plate.

Like the Mandaluyong measure, the so-called “plaka vest” ordinance drew opposition from bikers, especially from the Quezon City Motorcycle Riders Federation (QCMRF), which had staged protest actions calling on Bautista to veto the measure.

In an interview Wednesday, QCMRF president Amin Ramalan Hamsa II said criminals could easily put false information on the vests, or worse, use those issued to innocent bike owners.

“It’s just an additional burden to riders and an additional law to break for criminals,” Hamsa told the Inquirer.

He said his group offered alternative solutions during a dialogue with Bautista on Monday. These include tapping volunteer civilian riders from his group to help the city’s barangay (village) watchmen and policemen in patrolling the communities or responding to emergencies.

The QCMRF is composed of 40 clubs, with around 100 to 300 members each, Hamsa said.

Should Bautista approve the ordinance despite their protests, “we’ll have no choice but to bring it to the courts,” he said.