Philippine Senate approve Motorcycle Crime Prevention Act of 2017 requiring front, rear plates

The Philippine government is slowly but surely making our streets safer from criminals on motorcycles after the senate unanimously approved a bill that will make it easier to identify units that have been to commit a crime.

Twenty-one senators approved – zero negative and zero abstention – Senate Bill 1397 or the Motorcycle Crime Prevention Act of 2017 that was authored by Senator Richard Gordon and Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III.

Under the bill, all motorcycles and scooters will be mandated to have bigger license plates in order to make it easier to identify them and deter perpetrators from using these types of motorized vehicles to break the law.

The Land Transportation Office (LTO) will be tasked to issue bigger and reflectorized license plate numbers to motorcycles and scooters, which will be placed in front and the rear of the vehicle. Markings on the license plate must be legible from a distance of between 12 to 15 meters.

A color scheme must also be devised to differentiate registration of motorcycles and scooters by region along with the usual alphanumeric numbers that will make it easy for the public to remember and identify.

Driving a motorcycle or scooter without a license plate number will carry a fine of not less than Php 50,000 to not more than Php 100,000 or imprisonment of four months and one day to two years and four months or both.

"By increasing the size and visibility of the motorcycle plates to be able to read the plate numbers from a distance, witnesses and law enforcement agencies are aided in the identification of motorcycle riders who are involved in accidents or criminal activities," said Sen. Gordon.