LTO, riders welcome Duterte’s move to suspend new motorcycle law

MANILA, Philippines — The Land Transportation Office (LTO) and motorcycle riders are taking a wait-and-see attitude as President Rodrigo Duterte announced he wanted the Motorcycle Crime Prevention Act suspended, less than a month after he signed it into law.

Weng Ocfemia, LTO spokesperson, said they had received word that the President would call a meeting on the matter. The agency will wait until then before charting a course of action.

“We haven’t started producing the plates yet anyway because the implementing rules and regulations are still being drafted,” she added.

Don Pangan of the Motorcycle Rights Organization, which has long opposed the law, told the Inquirer that while the group welcomed the President’s pronouncements, “we will not let our guard down.”

“The question now is how. Does a president have the power to just suspend a law?” he said.

Sen. Richard Gordon, the proponent and biggest advocate of Republic Act No. 11235, said on Monday that he would try to change Mr. Duterte’s mind.

The President earlier raised two objections to the law: the danger posed by a license plate attached to the front of a motorcycle and the hefty P50,000 fine for violators.