Zubiri says special law must be created for road rage incidents

Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said Tuesday that a special law should be created to avoid road rage incidents.

Zubiri made his remark as the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs was conducting a hearing into the viral road rage that happened in Quezon City last month.

"Very important po sa atin dito na malaman kung ano ang mga hakbang na puwede natin gawin na hindi po maulit itong road rage na ito, lalo na to our motorcyclists and to our cyclists and to anyone in the riding public in general," Zubiri said at the hearing.

(It is very important for us to know the measures that we should impose so that these road rage incidents will not happen again to our motorcyclists, cyclists, and the riding public in general.)

"What we need to do is to come up with policy, and possibly a special law that will be against road rage on its own, We can come up with a special law na tungo sa road rage mismo para sa ganon, maski na po natatakot 'yung naagrabyado na magfile ng kaso, it becomes People of the Republic of the Philippines vs. so and so," Zubiri added.

(We can come up with a special law about road rage so that we can help those who are afraid to lodge cases.)

Bike enthusiast and lawyer Raymond Fortun, meanwhile, said in the hearing that there has always been a problem when it comes to road rage incidents that have no complainant.

"There's to be at least a move to try to have a special law with regard to road rage incidents where there is no complainant," Fortun said.

"As a legal practitioner of 35 years, there's always a problem with that especially when you go to court and then there will be a need for witnesses. If it's just People of the Philippines then we might have a problem. Our courts will always try to convict on the basis of the existence of proof beyond reasonable doubt and it might be difficult to achieve that level of standard if there is no witness who will go to court," he explained.

Viral video

In the viral video, former cop Wilfredo Gonzales cursed at, hit, and even pulled out his gun after cyclist Allan Bandiola hit his car with his bicycle.

Gonzales and Bandiola both attended the Senate inquiry on the incident.

At the hearing, Gonzales said he pulled out his gun as a form of self defense.

"Ang intention ko po noon, bubunot po ako at nagkasa ng baril dahil pasugod po siya sa akin. Kahit i-review po natin 'yung [video], inamin naman niya na susugod po siya," Gonzales said.

(My intention when I pulled out my gun was to defend myself, even if we review the video. He also admitted that he was going to attack me.)

"Dinepensa ko lang po ang sarili ko at 45 degrees lang po, alam niyo naman po 'yun. Naka 45 degrees lang po pag gusto lang natin i-disable 'yung tao if ever susugurin niya ako," he added.

(I just defended myself. It's just 45 degrees in case I want to disable the person if ever he attacks me.)

In response, Bandiola admitted that he became aggressive toward Gonzales after the former policeman hit him in the head. He said it was just "normal reaction."

"Normal reaction ko po 'yun kasi binatukan niya ko eh. Bumaba po ako ng bike... kaso lang po inano niya ko ng... bakit niya ko binatukan eh, puwede naman niya ko kausapin ng maayos," Bandiola said.

(That's my normal reaction because he hit me in the head. I stepped out of my bike... why did he hit me? He could have just talked to me.)

In the hearing, Bandiola also stressed that bike lanes should be "respected." He said the law on bike lanes should be tough.

"Lagyan nila ng pangil ng batas 'yung bike lane. Dapat irespeto nila. Kasi kung nirerespeto 'yung bike lane, wala pong papasok don eh," Bandiola said.

The Quezon City Police District (QCPD) has already filed alarm and scandal complaints against Gonzales due to the incident while Bandiola had refused to lodge raps against the former cop.

Gonzales, for his part, had said he and the cyclist have already settled their differences. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News