Face covers of motorcycle riders banned

CEBU, Philippines- Any material that conceals the face and identity of a motorcycle driver, including full-face helmets, will be banned in Tagbilaran City.

After almost four months of deliberation, the City Council finally approved unanimously an ordinance prohibiting motorists, while in public places in the city, from wearing any material that conceals their identity such as bonnets, t-shirts, cloths and even full-face helmets or those helmets that have darkly tinted visors.

The ordinance, drafted by Councilor Jerry Pabe and refined by the City Council as a whole, allows the City Police team and the city traffic aides to flag down any motorists wearing any material that conceals their faces and identities. Violators will be required to present proper identification documents.

The City Traffic Management Office and the City Police Station shall serve as the lead agencies in the implementation of the ordinance and shall maintain a database for reference and monitoring purposes.

After the measure is published and be known to public via information, education and communication campaigns, no motorists will then be allowed to use any material that covers their faces or, in any way, intentionally conceals his or her identity within the city.

Among the prohibited acts are the wearing of bonnet that fully covers the face, wearing of hood of a garment that covers a considerable portion of a person's face, wearing of full-face helmets or helmets with tinted visors that conceals the whole identity of the motorists, or wearing of cloth or any other material around the face or wrapping the entire head with a cloth.

Pabe drafted the measure in response to the number of shooting incidents, robberies and other crimes involving riding-in-tandem persons clad with cloth or full-face helmets, which hampered police investigations and left several incidents unsolved due to failure of witnesses to identify the assailants.

In the ordinance, the Council cited that "enactment of the Helmet Law of 2010 which is to protect the motorists could, in effect be defeated if this same law will be taken advantage of by those with criminal minds and intents to evade the authorities, thus resulting to the loss of lives who are supposed to be protected by the strict compliance of the Helmet Law of 2010."

Pabe, in his privilege speech before the drafting of the ordinance, said: "Let us open our eyes to the reality that the helmet law has been recycled by criminals into a tool for their evil designs, thus contradicting what it is supposed to protect-life."

The helmet law had ceased to be effective and has even become counter-productive, he said. "People's interest should be protected from circumstances and evil designs that bring uncertainty to life. And, we all have seen the helmet law turned into an effective tool for crimes undertaken by gunmen riding in tandem," he added.