More than 1,000 sign versus helmet law

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines – Over a thousand signatories were collected in Dumaguete City over the weekend to support a petition for a declaratory relief against the impending full implementation of Republic Act 10054 or the Mandatory Helmet Law.

Vice Mayor Alan Gel Cordova said he and four of his colleagues at the City Council are also signing the document as petitioners, alongside the more than 1,000 signatories.

The other four are Councilors Joe Kenneth Arbas, Manuel Arbon, Antonio Remollo and Albert Aquino.

On Saturday and Sunday, a signature campaign was held at the Robinson’s Place shopping mall to gather support for the filing of a declaratory relief with a prayer for preliminary injunction against the mandatory helmet law, which is set to be implemented in July, this year.

The petition seeks to have the said law nullified as it is “unconstitutional”, Cordova explained.

Vice Mayor Cordova said those who turned up at the mall were asked to present a valid identification card with the exception of a community tax certificate or “cedula” before they signed the petition.

The signatories included not just motorcycle drivers but family members as well.

The petition for a declaratory relief will be filed immediately before the regional trial court once all of the names of the more than 1,000 signatories have been encoded in the title as petitioners, Cordova explained.

The move stems from a continuing clamor from the city’s riding public that the mandatory helmet law was impractical and costly, considering that all riders and not just drivers are required to wear a prescribed protective head gear.

Vice Mayor Cordova clarified that he and the other four councilors are taking up the stand against the mandatory helmet law in their personal capacities and not as official representation of the august body. – (FREEMAN)