Mandaluyong motorbike back rider ban starts today

MANILA, Philippines - Starting today, the Mandaluyong City government will implement an ordinance banning motorcycle back riders who are not related to the driver.

Mayor Benjamin Abalos Jr. said police officers will be deployed at the city boundaries to man checkpoints and catch those violating Ordinance 938.

He said he hopes the ordinance will curb crimes perpetrated by motorcycle-riding criminals.

Women and children aged seven to 10 are exempt from the back rider ban.

Abalos said the ordinance was supposed to be implemented last Sept. 1, 15 days after it was approved by the city council, but the city government postponed the implementation to give the city’s 21 barangays ample time to launch an information drive.

Jimmy Isidro, the city’s public information officer, said the ordinance met some opposition from residents at first, but they later agreed “that it would be for their own good.”

Abalos pushed for the approval of the ordinance following 125-percent rise in crimes for the first six months of the year, from 249 cases in 2013 to 561 cases this year.

Under the ordinance, the drivers and back riders of motorcycles would be fined P1,000 for the first offense and P2,000 for the second offense.

The third offense would mean a fine of P3,000 and a jail term of three months.