Gordon: 108 victims attacked by riding-in-tandem since January 2021

Senator Richard Gordon on Tuesday bared that there are so far 108 victims of riding-in-tandem in the country since the start of 2021.

Gordon disclosed the data during the Senate blue ribbon committee’s sixth hearing on the implementation of Republic Act 11235 or the Motorcycle Crime Prevention Act.

Based on his office’s monitoring, Gordon said there are 84 people who died, 21 suffered from injuries, and two victims who were unhurt in riding-in-tandem incidents as of April 16, 2021.

Another victim of riding-in-tandem was added to the list on Monday, bringing the total number of victims to 108.

Of the said number, 60 were civilians, 11 police officers, 16 government officials, eight government employees, one teacher, one unionist, four businessmen, an engineer, two farmers, one pastor, and two lawyers.

Gordon also mentioned Philippine National Police’s tally which showed that there are already 191 riding-in-tandem victims as of January 1 to 31, 2021.

The number is included in the 19,277 total number of victims from 2016. The incidents include cases of murder, homicide, physical injuries, rape, robbery, carnapping of motorcycles and cars, and theft.

Gordon, who authored and sponsored the RA 11235, conducted the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing as he lamented the slow implementation of the law. 

“Ang RA 11235, o Motorcycle Crime Prevention Act ay ginawa para masawata ang krimen, at ang walang habas na patayan gamit ang motorsiklo… Kahit na mas mataas ang parusa sa riding in tandem, ang tanong may nahuhuli ba?” Gordon said in his opening speech Tuesday.

(The Motorcycle Prevention Act was passed to precent crimes and the non-stop killings using motorcycles…Even if we imposed stiffer penalties on riding-in-tandem, the question is, are we catching these suspects?)

The law, signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in March 2019, mandates the Land Transportation Office to issue bigger, color-coded license plates to every motorcycle in the country.

License plates according to specifications required by the law have yet to be issued by the LTO. — RSJ, GMA News