Coming soon to an enforcer nearest you: New road laws

Filipino motorists may be seeing a lot of activity on the street level—roads and bridges being built, new cars being introduced, and that never-ending interaction amongst millions upon millions of road users.

Within the halls of the republic’s upper legislative house, there are also the senators busy finalizing and pushing for motoring-related bills before the President signs these into law. Here are some of the more significant (and interesting) ones that may soon be enforced.

1) The Electric Vehicles (EVs) and Charging Station Act. Sen. Win Gatchalian, who is sponsoring the bill, hopes that the Act would “help reduce Philippine greenhouse gas emissions and foster greater energy independence.” The Act has been estimated to reduce the local automobile industry’s oil consumption by as much as 146.56 million barrels and save $9.8 billion (P497 billion) per year.

Gatchalian’s proposed bill requires private and public establishments, as well as fuel stations to allot slots with charging stations. It also mandates companies, public transport operators, and government agencies to maintain at least 5 percent of their fleets as EVs.

2) No Garage, No Car Act of 2019. Sponsored by three senators—Bong Revilla, Joel Villanueva, and Win Gatchalian—all filed within days of each other in July 2019—the proposed bill requires parking space from motor vehicle owners/buyers in metropolitan areas as a prerequisite for the purchase and registration of motor vehicles with the Land Transportation Office.

The bills are pending at the Senate’s committee on trade, commerce and entrepreneurship, which needs to show in its report that the details of the bill are valid and sound. There is yet no Technical Working Group (TWG), and the committee awaits inputs from stakeholders.

3) Unattended Child in Motor Vehicles Act. Filed by Villanueva on Aug. 5, 2019, the Act protects children from being left unattended in motor vehicles.

4) Muffler Act of 2019. Filed by Gatchalian last July 24, the bill is pending in the committee on trade, commerce and entrepreneurship. The Act prohibits the use of motor vehicles without mufflers or those that are defective or have been modified to increase the sound of the exhaust volume. The bill would effectively penalize owners and drivers that contribute to noise pollution.

5) Motorcycle-for-hire Act In the light of the recent issues surrounding motorcycles-for-hire such as Angkas and Joyride, Senators Grace Poe, Ralph Recto, Sonny Angara, Imee Marcos, Revilla, have jointly filed a bill that would allow the use of motorcycles as public utility vehicles, effectively amending RA 4136, otherwise known as the Land Transportation and Traffic Code, and for other purposes.

Interestingly, the Motorcycle-for-Hire bill is in a race against time, as the Department of Transportation’s TWC governing the ongoing pilot study on Angkas, Joyride, and Move It had previously set the date of the termination of the pilot study on March 23, 2020. If by that time the Act is not signed into law, the aforementioned motorcycle PUVs operating in Cebu and Metro Manila could be deemed as illegal once more.