Cebu governor allows pillion riding

CEBU CITY—Despite a prohibition from the national government, Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia has allowed residents to ride pillion on motorcycles to help address the lack of public transportation in the province, which has been under general community quarantine (GCQ) since May 16 as the country battles the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

Garcia issued Executive Order No. 19 on Wednesday allowing motorcycle drivers to have pillion riders (also called “back riders”), provided they wear shoes and safety helmets prescribed by the Department of Trade and Industry.

With more businesses allowed to operate in areas under relaxed quarantine, she said the no-pillion-rider policy “is no longer cogent for want of adequate public transportation especially for persons living in the mountain barangays and far-flung areas, as well as for those living in the same household who are related by consanguinity or affinity within the fourth civil degree to the owner of the motorcycle.”

Prohibition

According to Garcia, the policy prohibiting pillion riders reiterated under a Land Transportation Office memorandum was “a mere regulation that implements and enforces an existing law” and could not “go beyond the existing legal frameworks” of Republic Act No. 4136 (Land Transportation and Traffic Code), which does not prohibit use of private motorcycles to transport passengers.

The Cebu provincial board is expected to approve on June 8 an ordinance that will adopt Garcia’s EO 19.

In Manila, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said local governments could not override the rules set by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID).

“Banning back riders is applicable to GCQ and [modified GCQ], and this is part of an IATF resolution. Mayors cannot issue authorizations. We must still follow the prohibition on back rides,” he said.

Roque said motorcycles with sidecars were still not allowed to travel along national highways but drivers of these vehicles would not be apprehended for now. —REPORTS FROM DALE G. ISRAEL AND JULIE M. AURELIO