Identifying motorcycle-riding criminals will soon be easier as the House of Representatives approved on third and final reading a bill that mandates an increase in the size of the license plates of the two-wheeled conveyances.
House Bill 8419, principally authored by Rep. Victor Yap of Tarlac, orders the Land Transportation Office to issue bigger license plates for motorcycles. The bill was approved by an overwhelming 219 lawmakers.
Yap filed the proposed “Motorcycle Crime Prevention Act of 2017” following a sharp increase in the number of crimes committed by motorcycle-riding assailants.
He cited Article II, Section 5 of the Constitution which provides that the maintenance of peace and order, the protection of life, liberty, and property, and the promotion of the general welfare are essential for the enjoyment by all the people of the blessings of democracy.
The bill declares that towards this end, the State shall ensure the security and safety of its citizenry from crimes committed with the use of motorcycle.
Under the bill, the LTO shall issue a bigger license plate for every motorcycle with alphanumeric characters in large and readable font from a distance of at least 12 meters from the motorcycle.
Under the measure, the LTO shall also devise a scheme to make it easier to determine the region where a particular motorcycle is registered for quick and easy identification.
The bigger number plate must be displayed at the back of a motorcycle and shall be made of suitable and durable material as determined by the LTO.
Driving or operating a motorcycle without a bigger number plate shall be prohibited. The driver shall be apprehended while the motorcycle shall be impounded by the LTO law enforcement officer or other deputized law enforcement personnel and immediately turned over to the custody of the LTO.
The LTO law enforcement officers or their deputized law enforcement personnel who fail to immediately surrender a motorcycle impounded shall be penalized and held liable for any loss or damage of the impounded motorcycle under their custody.
The use of an impounded motorcycle in the commission of a crime shall also be penalized.
The owner of the impounded motorcycle may redeem the vehicle from the LTO upon proof of ownership, payment of assessed fines and compliance with bigger number plate, as provide in the Act.
Motorcycle owners who do not report the sale or disposition of their motorcycle shall be fined P5,000 to P20,000.
Likewise, a rider of a motorcycle without a bigger plate number shall be meted out a fine of P5,000 for the first offense, P10,000 for the second offense, and P15,000 and revocation of driver’s license on the third offense.
Failure of the owner to report the loss, damage or theft of number plate shall be subjected to a fine of P5,000 to P20,000.
Tampering, altering, forging, or imitating a bigger number plate shall be penalized with prision mayor as provided under the Revised Penal Code, or a fine of P50,000 to P100,000, or both, at the discretion of the court.
Likewise, the use of stolen number plate in a motorcycle shall be meted a penalty of prision mayor as provided under the Revised Penal Code, or a fine of P50,000 to P100,000, or both, at the discretion of the court.
After five years from the effectivity of the Act and every five years thereafter, the LTO shall review the fines herein imposed and shall adjust the same accordingly if deemed necessary.
The amount needed for the initial implementation of the Act shall be charged against the current year’s appropriation of the LTO.
Thereafter, such amount as may be necessary for the continued implementation of the Act shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.
The LTO shall be given one year to produce the necessary bigger number plates to replace the existing number plates of motorcycles.