Saying that the matter is already within the ambit of Congress, the Regional Trial Court Branch 44 in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental, has dismissed the petition to declare Republic Act 10054, or the national Mandatory Helmet Law, unconstitutional.
RTC 44 Presiding Judge Neciforo Enot, in a decision dated July 19, 2012, said the petitioners, led by Dumaguete Vice Mayor Alan Gel Cordova and several Sangguniang Panlungsod members, “failed to clearly and convincingly prove the law’s unconstitutionality”.
“This court is not oblivious to the fact that prominent personalities in Dumaguete City are resorting to extrajudicial or political remedies to delay or suspend the implementation of RA 10054,” the judge added.
The law will take effect August 1 this year.
“The extraneous remedies constitute tacit recognition of the fact that matters interposed by the petitioners are for Congress, and not this Court, to consider,” Enot said in his 14-page decision.
A registered motorcycle-owner himself, Enot said he supports and encourages concerned personalities to pursue the political remedies they have resorted to until they succeed in having the assailed law repealed, or at least amended, to conform to conditions in Dumaguete and other local government units similarly situated.
The city is considered the motorcycle capital of the Philippines.
Cordova had earlier said the signature campaign asking Congress to repeal or amend RA 10054 has been momentarily suspended so as not to preempt the action of RTC 44 on the petition.
Mayor Manuel Sagarbarria has also initiated a similar drive in the barangays.
Meanwhile, Land Transportation Office Dumaguete chief Roland Ramos welcomed the court decision, and said a continuous information dissemination campaign will be undertaken on the implementation of the law next month. (PNA)
