Senate OKs bill for bigger motorbike license plates

The Senate passed on third and final reading yesterday a bill that would require motorcycles and scooters to have bigger license plates to prevent motorcycle-riding criminals from easily getting away after committing a crime.

Senate Bill 1397 or the Motorcycle Crime Prevention Act of 2017 – authored by Sen. Richard Gordon, chair of the Senate committee on justice and human rights, and Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III – was approved with 21 votes.

The measure mandates the Land Transportation Office (LTO) to issue bigger and reflectorized license plates to every motorcycle and scooter in the country.

The Philippine National Police, according to Gordon, recorded 1,069 crimes involving motorcycle-riding suspects with 810 victims killed in 2011, higher than the 824 recorded shootings in 2010 with 604 victims killed.

In Metro Manila alone, he said, the number ballooned to more than 3,000 in 2013. In 2014, it went up to 6,219 crimes and decreased to 6,006 in 2015.

The plate numbers should be big enough to be readable from a distance of 12 meters to 15 meters.

The LTO is also mandated to devise a color scheme of the plate numbers for every region to easily identify where such motorcycle was registered, together with an alphanumeric system for easier identification and recollection by the general public.

Driving without a license plate is prohibited and shall be punishable by four months and one day up to two years and four months or a fine of not less than P50,000 but not more than P100,000, or both.

Gordon said if a motorcycle was used in the commission of a crime, the owner, driver, back rider or passenger who participated in the crime shall get 12 years to 20 years in prison.