Manila: The Philippine Senate has passed a measure that would require motorcycle owners to use bigger licence plates in a bid to curb bike-borne crimes.

“By increasing the size and visibility of the motorcycle plates to be able to read the plate numbers from a distance, witnesses and law enforcement agencies are aided in the identification of motorcycle riders who are involved in accidents or criminal activities,” Senator Richard Gordon said as he welcomed the recent passage of Senate Bill 1397 or the Motorcycle Prevention Act of 2017.

Gordon, along with Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III, authored the measure.

For years, motorcycle-riding criminals have lorded over the roads of the Philippines, carrying out crimes with virtual impunity by capitalising on the two-wheeled vehicles’ speed and quickness in getting through the narrow roads of the Philippines.

Gordon cited records from the Philippine National Police which said that in 2011 alone, there were 1,069 criminal incidents involving suspects riding pillion on motorcycles. In these incidents, 810 people were killed by assassins — higher than the 824 recorded shooting incidents in 2010 with 604 victims killed.

Gordon, chair of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights, said that in Metro Manila alone, the number even ballooned to more than 3,000 in 2013. In 2014, it went up to 6,219 criminal incidents and decreased to 6,006 in 2015.

“Motorcycles have become crime machines. With their small plate numbers, criminals perpetrating crimes while on board motorcycles easily flee from the scene of the crime and usually there are no witnesses who can read or identify plate numbers so that the authorities can go after the criminals,” Gordon said.

“This is an example of the impunity upon which motorcycles have been utilised in killing,” he said.

On Tuesday, the Senate passed on third and final reading of the Motorcycle Crime Prevention Act of 2017 which would require motorcycles and scooters to have bigger licence plates for easy identification in a bid to prevent motorcycle-riding criminals from easily getting away after committing a crime.

“By increasing the size and visibility of the motorcycle plates to be able to read the plate numbers from a distance, witnesses and law enforcement agencies are aided in the identification of motorcycle riders who are involved in accidents or criminal activities,” Gordon stressed.

Under the measure, the Land Transportation Office is mandated to issue bigger and reflectorised plates which must be placed in the front and rear of the motorcycle. The plate numbers should be big enough to be readable from a distance of between 12 and 15 metres.

Motorists caught driving without the required plate number size could be imprisoned for up to four months and for one day to up to two years or be made to pay fines up to P100,000 (Dh7,237)

“Motorcycles driven without a plate number or a readable plate number shall be stopped, seized by law-enforcement officers and surrendered to the Land Transportation Office,” Gordon said.