ILOILO City – A proposal for an outright ban on motorcycle pillion riding, colloquially referred to as backriding, drew flak from local officials here and in the province of Iloilo.
Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo recently suggested the prohibition in a bid to curb the spike in riding-in-tandem shooting and robbery incidents.
“Ipagbawal na lang natin ‘yung merong sumasakay sa motorsiklo. Tama lang ‘yung isa lang,” Panelo said.
This plan, however, did not sit well with the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP).
“That is anti-poor. Indi gid ko na pabor. Una bes ang gasakay sa motor ang aton pumoluyo nga indi kasarang magbakal sang awto,” said Councilor Jojo Javellana who chairs the SP committee on games, amusement and professional sports.
Maintaining peace and order is an obligation of policemen and this should not be passed on to motorcycle owners.
Javellana said he will propose a resolution opposing the motorcycle backriding ban.
Records from the Police Regional Office 6 showed that from January to November 2020, a total of 90 crimes were committed by motorcycle-riding suspects in Western Visayas.
Of the 90 cases, 43 were murder, 20 were physical injuries, 15 were robbery, seven were theft, three were rape, and two were “motornapping”.
For her part, Councilor Candice Tupas sees no problem on pillion rides.
She emphasized that motorcycle is a means of private transportation of people who have less in life, especially for those struggling amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“Basta duwa lang gid masakay kag nagahalong nga may helmet kag wala lapsag nga dala, daw wala man na problema,” Tupas pointed out.
For Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr., things should be weighed in first prior to implementation.
He questioned the readiness of concerned agencies to implement such prohibition.
“I’m not very sure if we are ready to do that. Ano ang benepisyo naton? Basi may iban pa man kita nga solution sa bahin sang aton law enforcement,” said Defensor.
While the governor agrees with Panelo that it is the fastest and absolute solution to curb criminalities, he said they must take the side of the police in this issue.
“We should find more measures para nga malikawan naton ang mga crimes by motorcycle-riding suspects. Nakita man naton nga naga-checkpoint man ang aton nga kapulisan. Basi puede mag-aggressive pa gid kita,” Defensor said.
He added: “Nagahambal ako from the standpoint of a local chief executive. Motorsiklo nga gina-angkasan is major means of transportation.”
Meanwhile, San Enrique, Iloilo’s Mayor Rosario Mediatrix Fernandez, president of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines-Iloilo Chapter, is also against the idea.
“Sa mga transportation sang pamilya-pamilya kag mga tawo, ti amo man lang ‘ni masarangan nila. Indi ko ya sina sa subong favor kay amo lang na mostly ang means of transportation sang mga tawo, ilabi na sa kaumhan,” said Fernandez.
Panelo made his intentions known over the weekend during the launching ceremony of the Philippine National Police’s Tactical Motorcycle Riding Unit.
He also pushed to prohibit even husband and wife, father and son, or any family members from backriding as well, since it’s easy for people to pretend that they are members of the same family./PN
