AKO BICOL Party-list Representative Alfredo Garbin Jr. calls out the untimely implementation of the Child Safety in Motor Vehicle Act on Monday.
Signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in 2019, the law bans children aged 12 years and below from taking front seats in private vehicles. Instead, parents or drivers are ordered to allocate a child restraint system (CRS) or car seats for their younger passengers.
The initial Allowed Persons Outside of Residence (APOR) are those aged from 15 to 65 until Duterte brought the minimum age to 10.
According to Garbin, he does not see the “necessity now for bring[ing] children outside of the residence using any motor vehicle.”
“Bawal pa rin naman ang babies, children, and young teenagers na lumabas ng bahay, so hindi kailangan pa na ipatupad ang ilang probisyon ng Child Safety in Motor Vehicles Act,” he noted.
“Nasa bahay dapat ang mga bata, hindi pasahero sa anumang sasakyan habang mayroong matinding banta ng COVID-19, maliban kung kailangan isakay dahil sa medical emergency,” he added.
Car seats cost around P2,700 up to P6,300 depending on the users’ preference.
Violators of the newly enacted law shall face a penalty of P1,000 for the first offense; P2,000 for the second offense; and P3,000 and a one-year suspension of the driver’s license for the third and succeeding offenses.
Despite its eyed enforcement next week, the Department of Transportation and Land Transportation Office decided to defer the enforcement of the Child Safety in Motor Vehicle Act due to “our current economic situation amid this still raging pandemic.”
