THIS week, the youngest son of President Bongbong Marcos Jr. joined a PNP Highway Patrol Group motorcycle -riding course designed to train individuals on the rudiments of proper Big Bike riding they need.

With this, 25-year old William Vincent Marcos will make history as the 1st member of the Marcos family to join a 16-day Executive Motorcycle Riding Course where he will be simply ‘one of the boys’ crawling on the ground and doing a routine Rider’s Exercise as they undergo the training.

Before him, Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio also became known as a Big Bike enthusiast who was trained by the PNP-HPG along with her brothers and their father, former President Rodrigo Duterte.

I was told by PNP-HPG director, Brigadier General Clifford Gairanod that the young Marcos and his classmates started their grueling training inside the PNP national headquarters in Camp Crame last Wednesday.

“We are proud to have the President’s son for one of our students. I think he will make a very good Ambassador of Goodwill when it comes to road safety and protection among motorcycle riders in the country,” Tiger Gairanod told me.

The President’s son is among the students in the PNP-HPG-supervised EMRC training who will be taught by HPG ‘Tigers’ or Big Bike experts on how to properly ride the machine and keep them and others safe in any emergency situation.

The young Marcos is one of the students of Class 02-2022 while 54 others are under Class 03-2022. On Saturday, the students will have their official roster numbers and will elect their class officers, Brig. Gen. Gairanod told me.

The students will learn the ropes of Big Bike riding by undergoing a number of exercises including the so-called ‘Otso-Otso’ where they drive motorcycles to create the no. 8 figure without their boots touching the ground, the Motorcycle Crash, the Night Driving, the City Driving, the thrilling Long Jump and finally, the exiting Long Ride.

After finishing the course, the students will get the coveted HPG Rider’s Badge which they can proudly display on their shirts each time they go for a ride. They will also be recognized by tens of thousands of certified HPG Riders across the country.

Brig. Gen. Gairanod told me that the presidential son and a number of other government officials and selected police officers and men have joined the training. The participants are the ones providing for their own training uniforms, Big Bikes, meals and other expenses they entail as they go to their training ground. The motorcycles and gasoline during the training are being provided by the PNP-HPG.

“Of course, one of the participants dito sa ating Special Class ng EMRC, Mr. William Vincent Marcos. Is the President’s son. Thank you for joining our training,” PNP chief, General Jun Azurin said during the opening of the event at Camp Crame.

Gen. Azurin commended the training management and staff of HPG as well as the participants of the course which compose the Classes 02-2022 and 03-2022 “by giving 100 percent of their time and involvement” in the training activity. The top cop explained that the PNP-HPG is actually known for never stopping to its capability training programs to harness the competency and skills of their men.

“In the next coming days as you progress on this quite extremely challenging course, you will learn the proper riding techniques and promote safe and responsible riding that will eventually earn you the right to enjoy the privilege of becoming a Tiger. You will most likely love the freedom and the stimulation of your senses as you will be blessed to have the opportunity to ride like a professional,” said Gen. Azurin, who is now known as the PNP’s Top Tiger.

The PNP chief likewise urged law enforcement officers who have sworn to uphold the law and protect lives to do it more effectively “on two wheels” through the motorcycle riding course. The President’s son is among the few civilians who will enjoy the privilege of getting proper riding techniques from the PNP-HPG specifically safety measures which are often overlooked by other training institutions, the top cop told me.

I fully agree with Gen. Azurin when he said that the HPG EMRC is very distinct from the motorcycle riding courses offered by other institutions as it gives prime focus on teaching safety. I know it because I took the same tough course many years ago.

I humbly say that I am a proud member of the PNP-HPG Motorcycle Riding Class 1998-Alpha, otherwise known as the ‘Centennial Riders.’ Yours truly is Rider No. 65, the last member of Class 1998-Alpha to jump twice in front of a huge crowd at the old Camp Crame grandstand.

“We are assured that, if you finish this training, you will no longer be afraid to ride a motorcycle anywhere. You will have the competence, as well as the confidence, that you can use your big bikes anywhere,” Gen. Azurin said.

Graduates of HPG Motorcycle-Riding Courses are mostly the uniformed HPG, Police Security and Protection Group, Armed Forces, local PNP Traffic Enforcement Unit, the Motorized Units of the National Capital Region Police Office and Metro Manila Development officers everyone can see riding Big Bikes in the streets to help beef-up security presence.

They are authorized to direct traffic or provide escorts to security convoys of the President, other top security officials and visiting dignitaries during major international events in the country.

Twenty-four years after getting my ‘Rider’s Badge’ and later the HPG Master Rider Badge a year later, I still enjoy seeing fellow Riders in the streets. I have already stopped driving a Big Bike for years but still savor my experience in passing the tough MC crash or the four ‘tumba-tumba’ routines, the ‘Otso-Otso,’ the dangerous Rolling Log, the practice jump, the Night Driving, the Long Jump and the Long Ride. I also experienced dragging a Big Bike with a flat tire around Camp Crame, passing thru many uphill part of the camp and maneuvering thru a number of mini-bridges and stairs, uphill and downhill without of course, touching the ground, the ‘Ipit-Tangke’ always on my mind.

However, I join my fellow concerned Riders in calling on the present HPG leadership to put a stop on the practice of some of their predecessors who have been accused of turning the Rider’s Course into a money-making racket.

Tigers have whispered to me a classic example of a moneyed businessman who was among those who joined one of three EMRCs in the past. The man reportedly skipped most part of the training and did not even join the final ‘jump.’ However, weeks after their graduation, the man was already wearing an HPG Master Rider Badge for unexplained reasons. He was forced to remove the same Badge on his shirt after being ridiculed by his fellows.