LAWMAKERS have been prodded by the Philippine National Police to enact a law that will regulate the use of sirens and blinkers and give them the authority to immediately arrest its illegal users across the country.

“We need more tougher laws to fully stop this malpractice. For one, we need to have a law that will regulate the use of sirens and blinkers and turn its illegal use into a criminal offense,” said PNP Highway Patrol Group director, Brigadier General Rommel Francisco D. Marbil.

Other PNP officials who did not want to be named echoed Marbil’s statement saying such a law will also target other persons known for using those gadgets in their SUVs and cars and having unauthorized motorcycle escorts such as those from local government units and so-called provincial security units nationwide known for having a complement of motorcycle escorts who wear HPG-like uniforms and boots.

“Burden is the for law enforcers to implement but the highest violators are the one in positions,” said one official.

Brig. Gen. Marbil said they are proposing the legislative measure which will particularly prohibit not only the installation of those gadgets but also their sale to unauthorized persons.

Right now, there have been calls for Congress to pass a law that will ensure ‘wang-wangs’ will really ‘be a symbol of authority, not a symbol of abuse’ in our country. To do this, there have been suggestions for lawmakers to pass a law that that will strictly prohibit the importation, manufacture and sale and distribution of sirens, blinkers and other accoutrements being used by some abusive Filipinos.

Brig. Gen. Marbil also emphasized that apart from the PNP-HPG, the Police Security and Protection Group and the Presidential Security Group, there are no more other law enforcement units including those from local police territorial offices that are allowed to provide motorcycle escorts to officials and other VIPs.

SENATOR JV LAUDS PNP-HPG AGENTS AS HE HIMSELF IS STOPPED IN CHECKPOINT

Agents of the PNP-HPG found themselves being personally congratulated by Senator JV Ejercito after they accosted him and his fellow Big Bike riders while conducting an anti-criminality checkpoint and checking traffic code violators along the Marilaque Highway in Rizal last month, the Journal Group learned yesterday.

It turned out that last June 2, members of the Regional Highway Patrol Unit 4-A headed by Colonel Neil B. Francia were conducting operations at the Marilaque Highway which has gained notoriety for the presence of motorcycle riders who are either over-speeding, racing against each other or performing dangerous stunts and/or using sirens and blinkers to the consternation of other motorists and the general public.

The RHPU personnel during the day flag down a group of helmet-wearing motorcycle riders and asked them to produce their driver’s licenses and Land Transportation Office documents.

To their surprise, one of the Big Bike riders turned out to be Sen. Ejercito who lauded the HPG officers for enforcing the law in the highways really ‘without fear or favor.’ Sen. Ejercito himself confirmed that he is wary of the presence of abusive motorcycle riders in Marilaque Highway which has been the scene of a number of deadly accidents in the past.

Officials said that Sen. Ejercito produced his driver’s license and pertinent documents of his Big Bike on the same time he was stopped and was allowed to go by the RHPU4-A men after he commended them for a job well done and even had his pictures taken with them.

The June 2 incident prompted PNP-HPG officials to call on Sen. Ejercito to propose a law that will prevent the importation, manufacture and sale and distribution of sirens, blinkers and other accoutrements that can be easily purchased over-the-counter by the general public although they are not allowed to use them in their motor vehicles or motorcycles.

Records from the PNP-HPG headed by Brigadier General Rommel Francisco D. Marbil showed that from November last year to last month, PNP-HPG agents nationwide have confiscated 68 sirens, 878 blinkers and 1,566 unauthorized plates from drivers of motor vehicles and motorcycles.

The PNP-HPG’s continuing enforcement of Presidential Decree 96, Republic Act 4136 or the Land Transportation and Traffic Code and other pertinent. Transportation laws is sparing nobody, the Journal Group learned.

PNP Officer-in-Charge, Lieutenant Gen. Vicente D. Danao Jr. has. ordered the PNP-HPG to further intensify their crackdown on sirens and blinkers.

The top cop said that only marked government and law enforcement vehicles such as those from the PNP, the AFP, the National Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Fire Protection, Presidential Security Group and ambulances are authorized to be equipped with sirens and blinkers.

The law does not exempt marked barangay patrol vehicles as well as those owned by private security agencies and even those from the Metro Manila Development Authority, the Land Transportation Office and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board and thus, they can be apprehended anytime.

Once apprehended, the drivers of the vehicles found equipped with unauthorized sirens and blinkers are asked by the PNP-HPG to remove their gadgets. The gadgets are then confiscated with corresponding receipts issued to the violator.

Since 1999, the PNP has been very strict in going after unauthorized persons using sirens and blinkers in Metro Manila and other parts of the country. It was then PNP chief, now retired Senator Panfilo ‘Ping’ M. Lacson who ordered his men to apprehend all persons illegally using ‘wangwang,’ blinkers and other accoutrements in their SUVs, vans, cars and even motorcycles.

The PNP also passed a command memorandum circular strictly prohibiting the use of these gadgets and ordering the PNP-HPG to go after violators of the rule. The same ‘No Wangwang Policy’ was ordered by the late President Benigno Aquino III and former President Duterte and is expected to be continued by the PNP under the new Marcos administration.

However, officials said that to effectively prevent the presence of abusive motorists using sirens and blinkers in the country, Congress must enact a law that will effectively prevent the importation, manufacture and sale and distribution of these gadgets.

The Journal Group was told that sirens and blinkers are being sold like candies in different car accessory stores in Banawe, Quezon City as well as other similar establishments in different parts of Metro Manila .

Thus, the call for Sen. Ejercito and company to sponsor a new law that will make it illegal for unauthorized persons to sell or buy these gadgets. This is because police cannot arrest the seller or the buyer of the gadgets in the absence of a law that makes such business illegal.

At present, there is only Presidential Decree No. 96 issued by the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos on January 13, 1973 which declared “unlawful the use or attachment of sirens, bells, horns, whistles or similar gadgets that emit exceptionally loud or startling sounds, including domelights and other signalling or flashing devices on motor vehicles and providing certain exceptions therefor.’

Under PD 96, the gadgets or devices mentioned above may be attached to and use only on motor vehicles designated for official use by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, National Bureau of Investigation, Land Transportation Commission, Police Departments, Fire Departments, and hospital ambulances.”

The same law declared that violators will be punished by an imprisonment of six months and/or fine of P600 apart from having his registration papers canceled or revoked following repeated offenses.