Eleazar: Riding-in-tandem ban helped lower NCR crime rate

MANILA, Philippines — The Mandaluyong ordinance banning men from riding in tandem on motorcycles was a “big help” in lowering the crime rate in Metro Manila, Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, chief of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), said Saturday.

In the first three years of the Duterte administration, the crime rate in Metro Manila dropped by 58%, Eleazar told reporters on the sidelines of the Anti-Crime Summit held at the Atrium Executive Building in Mandaluyong.

He singled out the riding-in-tandem ban in Manila as a “big help” in preventing crimes, particularly murder and robbery, in the Metro Manila

He noted that the ease in maneuvering a motorcycle helped criminals easily escape law enforcers even in heavy traffic.

In his speech at the summit, former Mandaluyong Mayor Benjamin “Ben-hur” Abalos Jr. explained that the riding-in-tandem ban was only imposed on men because no women had been involved in crimes committeed with the use of motorcycles.

In 2015, the Mandaluyong City implemented Ordinance No. 550 which prohibited motorcycle riding in tandem for men who are unrelated to each other.

Exempted from the ban are “all members of the Philippine National Police tactical and mobile unit assigned or detailed in Mandaluyong City, in the performance of their duty” as well as women, children between seven and 10 years old and male relatives within the first degree of consanguinity.

READ: Mandaluyong City government tweaks ban on tandem riding

/atm