Solon wants implementation of child car safety law deferred for a year

The implementing rules and regulation (IRR) of the Child Safety in Motor Vehicles Act should be suspended for at least one year, a party-list lawmaker suggested on Thursday, amid issues hounding its implementation.

In a statement, ACT-CIS party-list Representative Jocelyn Tulfo said she believes the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Land Transportation Office (LTO) "did not perform all the due diligence necessary" before issuing the law's IRR.

Signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in February last year, the said law mandates that children aged 12 and below use the child restraint systems or car seats and are only allowed to take the front seat if they meet the 4'11'' height requirement, on top of using the regular seat belt.

The full implementation of the law was set on February 2, but the Land Transportation Office said it would focus on the intensified information drive rather than apprehending or issuing tickets against its violators.

"My suggestion is to suspend the IRR not just for three to six months. DOTr and LTO should suspend the IRR for at least one year or until months after we are no longer under a state of national public health emergency," Tulfo said.

Tulfo questioned whether the DOTr and the LTO conducted public hearings before approving the IRR for the law.

"They crafted the IRR in an isolation chamber in complete disregard of the suffering of the country," she said.

"How this could happen does not speak well of how the DOTr and LTO performed in this situation which is in sharp contrast to their exemplary record of implementing infrastructure projects," she added.

Before implementing them, the DOTr and LTO should first amend the IRR, taking into consideration the comments regarding those covered by the law, particularly the children, according to Tulfo.

"Ang pangit ng standard na 12 and below or below 4’11'' kasi it doesn’t take into consideration the actual size of the car seat as opposed to the person," she said.

Meanwhile, the Department of Trade and Industry should also be on the lookout for sellers of child restraint seats who might take advantage of the situation and jack up their prices in the market.

"There should have been price controls put in place before they implement so that price gouging would be averted," she added.

The House Committee on Transportation is set to conduct an inquiry next week into the issues surrounding the implementation of the Child Safety in Motor Vehicles Act, said its panel chair Samar Representative Edgar Sarmiento. -MDM, GMA News