ILOILO City – In the National Capital Region (NCR), motorcycles are used as ride-sharing public transport. No so in this city, according to Mayor Jerry Treñas.
Here, motorcycles are used as private mode of transport. Thus, according to Treñas, disallowing pillion riding (backriding) here like in the NCR is a disservice to people.
In a letter to the Inter-agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases chaired by Health secretary Francisco Duque III, Treñas appealed for the reconsideration of the prohibition.
The task force banned motorcycle backriding to ensure physical distancing – a measure that aims to curb the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
But according to Treñas, “physical distancing among members of a family or persons is almost improbable because they are living in the same household”. Therefore, he said, disallowing family motorcycle back rides is pointless.
He urged the task force to “allow private motorcycles to have at least one backrider provided that such backrider is an immediate family member.”
“It would be more convenient, economical and practical for families to back ride on their family member’s motorcycles when going out of their homes either to work or to buy essential goods, provided that safety precautions are observed,” argued Treñas.
“Immediate family member”, he said, should refer to the husband, wife and their children residing in one house, with either of them as the driver of the motorcycle.
While Iloilo City transitioned from enhanced community quarantine to general community quarantine on May 16, Treñas said the number of authorized public transport vehicles was still not enough to serve the volume of people commuting to work.
“People are waiting on the streets so they can take a ride to their work (and conversely to go) home. Public transport terminals are at the risk of becoming crowded due to the prohibition of backriding, which can eventually compromise the observance of physical distancing,” according to Treñas.
He assured the task force that the city government won’t allow anyone to abuse the backriding privilege “by providing clear and practicable guidelines necessary…while not compromising the safety and health protocols being observed to curb the transmission of the (corona)virus.”
For example, according to Treñas, “We will require the back rider to present an identification card showing proof of his or her relationship to the driver of the motorcycle.”/PN
