No phase-out for 2-stroke motorbikes

There is no truth to the rumor going around that the government plans to phase out all two-stroke motorcycles in the country in accordance with the Clean Air Act of 1999, according to Land Transportation Office chief Roberto Lastimoso.

"There is no provision in the Clean Air Act that says two-stroke motorcycles are to be phased out," Lastimoso said, to quell apprehensions of thousands of tricycle drivers that they might lose their only means of livelihood.

Lastimoso’s clarification virtually made a liar out of Rolly Casillan, LTO Region III operations chief, who had been quoted in a newspaper interview last week as saying that at least 143,990 two-stroke tricycles in Central Luzon will have to go because of the enforcement of the Clean Air Act.

For his part, Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman Bayani Fernando told the Motorcycle Development Program Participants Association (MDPPA), composed of Kawasaki Philippines, Yamaha, Suzuki, Honda and Kymco, said his office was not after the banning of two-stroke motorcycles provided they can pass the emission test standards that are going to be set soon.

Fernando said that two-stroke motorycles will be given the go-signal to operate by the MMDA as long as they can comply with the hydrocarbon emission levels to be required, regardless of whether they are powered by two-stroke or four-stroke engines.