Better to implement child car seat law after pandemic –solon

For House Committee on Transportation chair Edgar Sarmiento, it is better to implement the new law mandating the use of child restraint systems or car seats for young children after the country recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sarmiento made the remark ahead of the House transportation panel inquiry into the issues surrounding the implementation of the Child Safety in Motor Vehicles Act this week.

In a Dobol B sa News TV interview on Sunday, Sarmiento recognized the importance of the law, but noted that the public had yet to be fully informed about it, while others cannot afford child restraint systems due to the pandemic's impact on their finances.

"Gaano man kaimportante itong batas, dito hindi natin nakita ang mas importanteng nangyari sa buong mundo, itong pandemic na ito. Siguro naman maiintindihan ng legislative branch kapag sinabi ng executive na kung pwede mamaya na natin ito iimplementa," he said.

"Kung ii-implement ito, siguro sa panahon na bumabalik na, sumisigla na uli ang ekonomiya at may pera na ang tao," he added.

Signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in February last year, the Child Safety in Motor Vehicles Act mandates that children aged 12 and below use 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 an intensified information drive rather than apprehending or issuing tickets against its violators.

Sarmiento said the inquiry would focus on looking into the implementing rules and regulations of the law to determine if it was properly crafted.

"Kung may programa ang gobyerno tama siguro ang execution. Sinasabi natin ang timeline, proper information dissemination," he said.

"On its proper time, siguro na-address na natin ang problema. Siguro kapag na-address na natin yung sa pagkain. Ito siguro kapag naintindihan ng mamamayan, ng tao na dapat na ulit pagkagastusan kasi importante rin naman ang safety ng bata, maiintindihan nila ito," he added.

At least six senators called on the Land Transportation Office and the Department of Transportation to defer the implementation of the Child Safety in Motor Vehicles Act “until necessary guidelines are put in place and agency mandates are fulfilled.”

Meanwhile, ACT-CIS party-list Representative said that the implementing rules and regulation (IRR) of the Child Safety in Motor Vehicles Act should be suspended for at least one year "until months after we are no longer under a state of national public health emergency."  — DVM, GMA News