Gordon slams LTO over ‘failure to implement’ Motorcycle Crime Prevention Act

Senator Richard Gordon on Thursday slammed the Land Transportation Office over the non-implementation of Republic Act 11235 or the Motorcycle Crime Prevention Act.

In a privilege speech Thursday, Gordon provided details from the partial Senate blue ribbon committee report on the alleged failure to implement RA 11235— which he authored and which, he said, was passed “to protect the public, and to have a full arsenal against criminals using motorcycles.”

Gordon flagged the absence of bigger, readable, and color-coded motorcycle plates which he said has “unquestionably contributed” to the rampant, unabated killings in the country.

He cited the Philippine National Police data on killings perpetrated by "riding in tandem," or motorcycle-riding gunmen. Of the 19,277 crimes from 2016 to January 2021, 7,123 are murder cases.

“Because of the dismal failure of the Land Transportation Office to implement RA 11235, more people are still getting killed by criminals in riding-in-tandem incidents. Impunity, not accountability, reigns,” he said.

Gordon also slammed the delay in the alleged failure to establish the joint LTO - PNP Operations and Control Center two years after the signing of the law.

Section 15 of the RA 11235 provides that the LTO is mandated to set up a 24/7 command center which will function as an action center for the reporting on the commission of crimes perpetrated through the use of stolen vehicles, especially stolen motorcycles.

The said command center should include text blasts warning people on the occurrence of killings, and other crimes.

Despite LTO chief Edgar Galvante’s commitment that a command center will be established, Gordon said the repetitive reply to calls was, “The number you dialed cannot be completed. Please check the number and dial again.”

“And he wants us to trust him. How can any one? This is nonfeasance, for which the LTO under the leadership of Assistant Secretary Edgar Galvante et al should also be held liable,” Gordon said.

The lawmaker added that the readable plates and the Command Center could have assisted the PNP greatly in solving crimes and could have deterred the commission of other crimes.

“LTO did not protect the public and committed injustice by dragging their feet in effecting the provisions of RA 11235,” he said.

Gordon further slammed the “unconscionable and inordinate delay” on the issuance of the motorcycle plates.

He said the LTO started production of motorcycle license plates only on July 29, 2020 despite the December 31, 2019 deadline.

“This is misfeasance for which the LTO under the leadership of Assistant Secretary Edgar Galvante should be taken to account,” he said.

The senator likewise noted the issuance of the Implementing Rules and Regulations, which “greatly hampered the distribution of new, bigger, readable, and color-coded motorcycle plate.”

Another issue the LTO under the leadership of Galvante and Executive Director Romeo Vera Cruz must be held liable for, said Goron, was the existence of regulatory capture resulting from the so-called “proprietary nature” of the Order Management System.

“The digital signature utilized by LTO is proprietary to just one supplier: Tonnjes, hence no supplier could access the Order Management System other than Tonnjes. As a result, Trojan-Tonnejes has won all the annual biddings from 2017 to 2020,” he said.

“The Blue Ribbon Committee exposed and established during our hearings that there are established business practices that could only be described as unconscionable, desensitized to the exploitation of motorcycle riders, and profitable to a pandered, privileged few,” he added. 

In an interview with GMA News, Galvante said the manufacturing of big plates and decals for the year 2018 was underway.

Of the 2.2 million newly-registered motorcycles for the year 2018, 2.1 million plates have already been manufactured.

For 2019, over 500,000 of the 1.9 million plates were already produced.

The backlogs only include those plates for the year 2017.

Galvante said the LTO needed P188 million for the release of front plates.

He said the command center operated  24/7.

Galvante wondered why Gordon has made a privilege speech as he noted that the lawmaker has asked for the data from LTO.

“?That is what he said. We were explaining during the hearing he conducted the reason for the delay in the implementation, but he did not accept our reason. Yes, there was a delay in the implementation because of so many factors beyond our control,” Galvante said. — BM, GMA News