The evil of the ‘doble plaka’ law

Travelers in Philippine roads can be generalized into two—the commuters and the motorists. Commuters are those who either walk or pedal or ride mass transport. Motorists, on the other hand, are those who drive or ride cars, motorbikes, and, lately, e-scooters.

The Motorcycle Crime Prevention Act of 2019, by its name, seems to suggest that its purpose is to prevent the theft of motorbikes as these vehicles are very portable and highly mobile. But, no, the law’s avowed objective is to be the solution to the problem of riding-tandem killings—crimes perpetrated by a rider plus a backriding assassin with a mission to ambush a target and then speed away. This modus is simple, effective, and unsolvable.

Since most of these brazen murders have ended up unresolved and convey utmost impunity against our legal order, the government thought of requiring large license plates in front of motorcycles in addition to the one at the back, supposedly for the easier identification of suspects—hence the Act being called the “doble plaka” (double plates) law.

But it’s law-abiding citizens that have been ensnared by this law. This is the everyday sight you see when long queues of motorbikes are being checked for their registration papers and driver’s license. Honest-to-goodness delivery boys, husbands ferrying spouses to and from work, and just about anyone who has worked hard to improve their lot by investing in their mobility for productivity have to face the cost of delay and additional out-of-pocket “lagay.” These daily shakedowns, similar to the “tanim bala” scheme perpetrated on hapless passengers at our airports a few years back, destroy whatever little trust we have in those who rule us.

Then there are the perennial issues of lack of license plates, and the twisted bureaucracy of registration and transfer of ownership under pain of penalty and sanction. The onus is as usual on the poor motorists who are sandwiched between an unresponsive regulator and an overly eager enforcer. The motorist has no choice but to risk using his or her motorcycle to ply the streets for survival.

The legal policy issue is one of over-criminalization, which is an amateurish mindset among policymakers who think that making an act a crime with heavy penalties is the answer to the problem at hand.

The fines, starting from Sections 7 to 11 of the Motorcycle Crime Prevention Act, range from a base of P20,000 to a high of P100,000 for regulatory noncompliance; they are in fact confiscatory in nature as these amounts are equivalent to the value of the motorcycle. The penalty effectively deprives the owner of the property he or she has diligently saved up and paid for.

But is the law effective? Is it working as intended? It’s been two years since the passage of the Act, and have we seen a decrease in riding-tandem executions? The data does not support any claim for its success, simply because the law is ineffective by design. Criminals who can plan and execute such precise operations can just cover the plates when the crime is about to be committed, and there is nothing anyone can do about it. If such criminals are brazen enough to kill in broad daylight in the streets, homes, and offices of their victims, how is the requirement for large front and back plates on their getaway motorcycles supposed to deter them? Common sense says this isn’t the answer.

As with any legislation or rule, there are always pros and cons. The general rule is that the benefits should at least outweigh the costs. Better laws will optimize the burden of compliance versus the overall objectives. The good ought to be significantly much more than the inconvenience, costs, and risks. This is obviously not the case with this law. The impositions on all motorists are too much to bear and the reward negligible.

The country suffers from a system of such bad laws, aside from the other bad stuff. These laws are mindlessly passed and they endlessly pile up on the citizenry, multiplying the confusion and the stress without any redeeming factor. Taxpayer money is once again wasted on legislators who are not doing a good job but are only making life much more miserable for the rest of us.

The “doble plaka” law underscores the systemic pattern of incompetence and lack of care in government. The only real solution to the riding-tandem killings is dedicated, honest-to-goodness police investigative work using the best techniques and the latest technologies. That work should also be embedded in a robust criminal justice system to address criminality in all its forms, but especially the worst kind, swiftly and impartially. In law as in life, there are no shortcuts.

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Geronimo L. Sy is a former assistant secretary of the Department of Justice.