By Mario Casayuran Senator Richard J. Gordon has criticized the Land Transportation Office (LTO) for its failure to release the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 11235, the Motorcycle Crime Prevention Law, despite numerous appeals for the immediate implementation of the law. Senator Richard Gordon
(PRIB Photo by Joseph Vidal/06 November 2019) In his privilege speech during Tuesday’s session, Gordon stressed that more Filipinos are being killed by riding-in-tandem assailants than the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) this year. He is the author of RA 11235. He cited the recent killing of radio journalist Rex Cornelio Pepino who was shot dead last week in Barangay Daro, Dumaguete City by unidentified riding-in-tandem hit men. Gordon, chairman of the Senate Justice and Human Rights Committee, expressed dismay over the government’s failure to implement the law which was signed in March last year. He said the LTO and the Philippine National Police (PNP), the agencies that are supposed to be on top of stopping the crimes in the country, are not doing anything to prevent and solve the killings. “It has been 14 months ago to be exact, and yet, up to now, nothing has been done by the LTO. There is no order to come out with bigger plates for these motorcycles. We cannot tolerate this forever. It is beginning to really make us look very, very weak as a government. It shows that we, in Congress, are totally ineffective. Hindi na sinusunod ang batas natin,” he stressed. (Our laws are not being followed.) Gordon also pointed out that the non-implementation of the law violates Article 2 of the Civil Code that says that laws shall take effect after fifteen days following the completion of their publication. “If the Executive does not enforce laws, that is a violation of the Constitution. We, as a people, cannot just grin and bear it as there is a pandemic of motorcycle riding-in-tandem killings. If the LTO does not accept the job, we should ask for the resignation of all these people involved because if they cannot implement a simple law like that, then, we really are in trouble,” he said. “I don’t want to pick a fight with anybody. I just want to say that if you cannot do it, let somebody else do it. Let’s stop the killings,” he added.