The Philippine National Police – Highway Patrol Group (PNP-HPG) warns against the improper use of their official seal/ logo by civilians or motorcycle riders/ enthusiasts, particularly those who had undergone the Motorcycle Rider Safety Training (MRST) course. This act is illegal and is in violation of Executive Order No. 279, series of 2000 signed by then-president, Joseph Estrada.
This came after observation of acting PNP – HPG Director, P/BGen. Dionard Carlos during his visits to different regions of the country. He noticed that there were many graduates of the MRST course who were “blatantly using or displaying our HPG Seal/Logo” and that it “creates a negative impression to the public or may be prone to abuse on the use of the same”.
The details are outlined in the memorandum below.
The memo goes on to reiterate that violations of EO 279 apply to all “accoutrements” and not just stickers and patches, including dress, trappings, equipment, details of personal outfit of uniformed PNP personnel, belt, sword hanger and all objects other than clothes and weapons.
“Tuka” not included
To shed more light on the matter, we interviewed one of our friends who happens to be a graduate of the MRST program held at Camp Karingal. He confirmed that the helmet logo of the rider's course, more popularly known as the "tuka" is not included in the prohibition and it is earned by every MRST graduate after fulfilling all the requirements of the grueling course.
To make the distinction between police and civilian graduate, their logos differ in color: RED for the Motorcycle Rider's Course (MCRC) for active police personnel and GREEN for the civilian graduates of the MRST.
