For the moment, it is up to the individual motorist in the city whether to wear or not to wear the helmet when driving their motorcycles.
PHPT Team Leader Sr. Insp. Robelito Mariano said that they will only make apprehensions of motorists using the national roads, while waiting for the final decision of the Dumaguete City Council whether they would join public clamor to exempt users of city and barangay roads of such imposition.
The City Council is presently divided on the issue and is at the moment incapable of making a decisive and unified stand, which leaves the highway patrolmen in limbo. Councilor Alan Cordova, Chairman of the Committee on Peace and Order is the most vocal opponent of the mandatory use of helmets in the city’s small and narrow streets.
Civic leaders and even ordinary citizens took turns denouncing the imposition of helmet use in Dumaguete City underscoring the alleged absurdity and impracticability of the law.
The national helmet law was also branded as anti-poor as it basically targets ordinary citizens, who cannot afford to pay for the very excessive penalties and fines. Critics also believe this to be another avenue for corrupt and unethical government officials and enforcers to resume their illicit activities.
Another main concern is that of security amid possible upsurge of extra-judicial killings perpetrated by hire gunmen and cases of robbery perpetuated by people who use helmets to conceal their identities. In these uncertain times of terror threats and return of street killings, majority of the people in the city prefer that motorists bare their faces in public. Mariano said that the national roads where motorists are at risk of being arrested for not using helmets include the Valencia-Dumaguete road in the west, Mangnao-Bacong road down south and Bantayan-Sibulan road up north. (City PIO)
