MUS, Cavite - Children below 10 years old are no longer allowed to ride motorcycles anywhere in Cavite beginning Monday (August 2).
This was confirmed Friday Senior Superintendent Danilo L. Maligalig, Cavite Police Provincial Office (PPO) director, and Provincial Prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco.
Maligalig said the move is aimed at curbing the increase in fatal motorcycle accidents in the province. "Cavite is an accident-prone province, considering the number of highways and secondary roads in the area," he said.
Velasco and Maligalig came to the decision to ban children aged 10 and below from riding motorcycles during a weekend command conference attended by chiefs of police (CoPS) of the province's 19 towns and four cities.
Provincial fiscals and a Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) representative were also present at the conference held at the Cavite PPO Headquarters at Camp General Pantaleon Garcia, here. "
Aside from the strict implementation of the helmet measure, we will prohibit children from riding motorcycles traveling along thoroughfares," Velasco told reporters after the conference.
Velasco said he has asked Maligalig to conduct what he called "test cases" as soon as possible on motorcycle drivers violating the "no child rider" policy in the province.
The prosecutor said that motorcycle drivers violating the policy will be charged with child abuse as "they are putting minors at risk or danger."
"There is a law and ordinance against motorcycle drivers taking more than one back riders and allowing a child to ride the two-wheel vehicle. You know, a child have soft bones and it can be fatal for them if the motorcycle meets an accident," said Velasco, once a news reporter before he became a lawyer and eventual provincial prosecutor.
Maligalig said that they will conduct the "test cases" starting on Monday (August 2) and implement the strict "no child rider" policy the following Monday (August 9). He ordered the CoPs in his turf to follow the directives.
"We will arrest violating drivers next Monday. Drivers will be held responsible if they carry with them a child with or without helmet," he said.
