THE House Committee on Transportation chaired by Antipolo 2nd District Rep. Romeo Acop on Monday approved the draft substitute bill to House Bills (HBs) 5249 and 9821, seeking to amend Republic Act (RA) 11235, otherwise known as the Motorcycle Crime Prevention Act.
Under the proposal, Radio Frequency Identification System (RFID) stickers will be installed on motorcycles instead of vehicle identification plates.
While expressing support for the intent of the bill, 1-RIDER Party-list Rep. Ramon Rodrigo Gutierrez recommended that the RFID requirement be expanded to include four-wheeled vehicles also, citing reasons of practicality. According to him, the proposal provides rules for motorcycles that are distinct from cars, when both are motor vehicles.
Representatives from the Land Transportation Office (LTO) clarified that the plate numbers it installs in vehicles, whether two wheels or four, already have RFID marks.
Bill proponent Rep. Wowo Fortes (2nd District, Sorsogon) disagreed that the bill discriminates against motorcycles riders, pointing out that “two-wheel vehicles have been notoriously used on criminal activities, such that we hear riding-in-tandem doing criminal acts.”
The Highway Patrol Group (HPG) raised its proposal for QR codes to also be included on vehicle plates as an additional security mechanism to complement the RFID implementation.
Rep. Michael John Duavit (1st District, Rizal) asked whether the information to be encoded in the QR code includes ownership details. The LTO replied that the code will only include the vehicle make, plate number, color, chassis number, engine number, motor vehicle file number, year registered and serial number of the vehicle plate issued.
Acop said the proposed HB vests in the LTO the discretion to identify and require the data that must be encoded in the RFID sticker for every motorcycle.
The committee also considered the insights of the panel members on reasonableness of the proposed reduction of penalties under the bill and the applicability of the provisions of the revised Katarungan Pangbarangay Law to the bill.
