Fight for the Right to Live Free and Ride: The Jester-in-Exile Assails MMDA Resolution No. 07-07
First things first — let me turn into the Ghost Rider, but in this instance, I’ll be donning a toga instead of my leathers, but no less am I a biker.
***
Honorable justices of the Supreme Court.
I am a biker, a taxpayer, and a citizen of the Republic of the Philippines. I stand before you to petition the Court to declare MMDA Resolution No. 07-07 unconstitutional, and pray the court to prevent the infringement on my rights by the implementation of this resolution.
Article III, Section 1, of the Constitution says in unequivocal terms that “No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the laws.”
The Metro Manila Development Authority has, in defiance of the supreme law of the land, likewise unequivocally abridged this right by adopting MMDA Resolution No. 07-07. The resolution intends to do two things: one, to penalize motorcyclists’ passengers, or backriders, who have the face shields of their helmets covering their faces; and two, to penalize motorcyclists who do not have stickers on which their motorcycles’ license plate numbers appear attached to their helmets.
This unconstitutional measure was enacted ostensibly to curb acts of violence perpetrated by criminals using motorcycles. Chairman Bayani Fernando himself has been reported to have said said that anyone who would fail to comply — that is, a motorcycle backrider who has his face shield covering his face or a motorcyclist whose helmet does not have a sticker on which his motorcycle’s license plate number appears — should be penalized stiffly, by impounding of the motorcycle and appropriate fines and charges, as there is a deliberate attempt by the felon to conceal his identity and avoid positive identification by the public.
Honorable justices, it is patently clear that Chairman Fernando, without due process of law, and without jurisdiction over the issue, has charged, tried and convicted, by what crime he has not clearly stated, all motorcyclists and motorcycle backriders of being felons, which is in and of itself is a violation of Article III, Section 14 of the Constitution, which says that “No person shall be held to answer for a criminal offense without due process of law.”
But let us look at the chairman’s contention. Chairman Fernando posits that helmets are devices for concealment, and are used by motorcyclists to conceal their identities to avoid positive identification by the public. With all due respect to the chairman, we can assume that Chairman Fernando does not understand what the function of a motorcyclist’s helmet is.
A motorcyclist’s helmet, honorable justices, is a protective device. The helmet and its face shield has two purposes: first, to protect the motorcyclist and the backrider from the wind, dust and debris, rain, and glare, and; second, to protect against injury and trauma in case of accident.
Even if there is no wind, learned justices, simple physics and practical experience will show that a motorcyclist traveling at 60 km/h is subjected to the force of wind pushing back at him at 60 km/h, and such force on exposed facial skin is not comfortable, to the point that one’s vision is impaired. We know that our oppositors will contend that this is immaterial, because it will only be the backrider’s vision that is impaired, and his capability to see is unnecessary to the safe driving of a motorcycle. What our oppositors will gloss over is that in operating a motorcycle, it is necessary that both the motorcyclist and his backrider must be able to anticipate road conditions, to effectively and safely negotiate turns, humps, potholes and other hazards found in Philippine roads, and to do this both must not have any of their available senses impaired.
In the same manner, helmets and their face shields protect motorcyclists and backriders from dust and debris, and rain. Our roads are not free from dust, loose rocks, metal parts that have fallen from other vehicles, litter, and other debris, and because we are not in the desert, rain is a normal phenomenon. Without a helmet and its face shield, a motorcyclist and his backrider will be in the same situation as a driver and his passenger driving an automobile without a windshield, and without a helmet and face shield, a motorcyclist or a backrider may and can be temporarily blinded by dust and debris and rain, which may and can require first aid or immediate medical attention, without which the motorcylist or the backrider’s vision stands to be permanently damaged.
Glare, learned justices, is the impairment of vision in the presence of bright light such as direct or reflected sunlight or artificial light such as car headlamps at night. Glare can reduce visibility by: reduction of brightness of the rest of the scene by constriction of the pupils, and/ or; reduction in contrast of the rest of the scene by scattering of the bright light within the eye. Helmets and their face shields, especially if these face shields are coated with anti-glare tint, reduce the effect of the impairment of vision due to glare on the motorcyclist and his backrider. We must stress again that in order to operate a motorcycle safely, it is necessary that both the motorcyclist and his backrider both must not have any of their available senses impaired, so that both will be able to anticipate road conditions.
The helmet and its face shield’s necessity can be even more appreciated when we speak of accident. A helmet and its face shield prevents injury and trauma to the head; specifically, the body of the helmet prevents injury and trauma to the rear part of the skull, while the face shield of the helmet prevents injury and trauma to the face. Although the Philippines does not have safety standards imposed on the construction of helmets, the example used by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the Department of Transportation of the United States to illustrate the difference between safe and unsafe motorcycle helmets based on the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 218, or FMVSS 218 standard, popularly known as the “DOT” standard, shows clearly that a safe helmet is, among other things, one that is, equipped with a face shield. Since the presence of a face shield of a helmet is an essential part in determining whether it is safe or not, and the proper wearing of a helmet by the motorcyclist and backrider is essential to their safety, wearing a helmet without a face shield or with the face shield tilted upwards jeopardizes the safety of backriders.
Honorable justices, it is patently clear that MMDA Resolution 07-07 is a policy that reduces the safety of motorcyclists and backriders, and thus clearly provides AGAINST the welfare of motorcyclists and backriders. Any policy that provides against the welfare of the citizens is against the constitution. It is clear that the Metro Manila Council, by adopting a policy that provides against the welfare of motorcyclists and backriders, has gravely abused its discretion, amounting to lack of jurisdiction.
On the issue that motorcyclists who do not have stickers on which their motorcycles’ license plate numbers appear attached to their helmets will be penalized by fines and the impounding of their motorcycles, we must point out to the Court that with the implementation of this policy we motorcyclists are being denied equal protection of the laws. Crimes perpetrated with the aid of automobiles as getaway vehicles have not led to the Metro Manila Council creating resolutions to penalize automobile drivers and passengers, who, being enclosed in their vehicles, have the same amount or even more concealment of identities from the public, which Chairman Fernando contends is the rationale for the helmet stickers.
If concealment of identity is a valid rationale for helmet stickers, we must point out that given that drivers of automobiles are likewise concealed within their automobiles, these drivers must be also required to provide means to defeat their concealment; analogously, with the reasoning of the Metro Manila Council, drivers of automobiles must keep their door windows permanently open while wearing headbands with their license plate numbers indicated on these headbands, while plying the metropolis main roads and secondary streets.
Since drivers of automobiles are not thus required, we must point out that motorcyclists and backriders are being singled out for persecution, and are being denied equal protection of the laws. As such, MMDA Resolution No. 07-07, being a policy that denies equal protection of the laws, stands in violation of Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution, and having adopted such a resolution, the Metro Manila Council has gravely abused its discretion, amounting to lack of jurisdiction.
Furthermore, learned justices, helmet manufacturers themselves discourage the attachment of stickers on motorcycle helmets. Sticker adhesives damage the material of motorcycle helmets, making them unsafe for use. Since MMDA Resolution 07-07 requires motorcylists’ helmets to have stickers attached, and the adhesive of such stickers remove the protective ability of motorcyclists’ helmets, in effect the MMDA has put motorcyclists in danger of injury, even death. It is patently clear that the MMDA has callously disregarded the welfare and safety of motorcyclists.
Honorable justices, we have shown that MMDA Resolution No. 07-07 is unconstitutional, and that the Metro Manila Council has committed a grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack of jurisdiction when it adopted MMDA Resolution No. 07-07. We thus pray the Court to declare MMDA Resolution No. 07-07 unconstitutional, and we pray the Court to prohibit the MMDA from imposing and collecting penalties related to the implementation of MMDA Resolution No. 07-07.
***
I’m hoping that one of the many lawyer-bikers (and maybe even this judge-biker I met in Timog Katagalugan) will make the effort to contest this issue before the Supremes. (Obviously, I can’t do this, being only a freshman law student.) I’m fairly certain that our justices can be resolve this issue easily.
Also, fellow bikers, although I think that we don’t have to go out on the streets to kill this inane resolution stone-dead, I agree with you that we need to raise awareness on rider’s rights.
We need to make it clear to our fellow citizens that we all have the right to live free and ride.
