Bonnets among motorists to be banned in Mandaue

CEBU, Philippines — The Mandaue City Council is set to hold a public hearing on the move to prohibit the wearing of bonnets or balaclava among motorcycle owners and riders.

The measure was pushed by the city's traffic arm, the Traffic Enforcement and Management (Team).

Mandaue City Mayor Gabriel Luis "Luigi" Quisumbing, in his Facebook page, said that personal comforts of the motorists will be impacted, but justice for the victims of crimes perpetuated by motorists wearing those types of head gear is the city's biggest concern.

Quisumbing said that there are incidents of rape and murder that have been caught on closed-circuit television cameras, but the criminal cannot be identified because the perpetrators are wearing a bonnet or balaclava.

Team Operations Head Glenn Antigua said that a public hearing on this issue still has to be scheduled by the City Council.

The council will also hold another public hearing as approved by the Team Board that all public utility vehicles in the city must stay at the right lane only on a multi-lane road.

Meanwhile, the Treatment and Rehabilitation Clinic in Mandaue City for moderate risk drug dependents, the first in the Visayas, will soon be realized as the P2M funding for its construction from the Department of Health (DOH) was already downloaded.

Vice Mayor Carlo Pontico Fortuna said that the facility will be constructed inside the compound of the City Health Department.

Mandaue City was selected as the pilot area in the Visayas for Community-Based Recovery Clinics by the DOH.

The purpose of the clinic is to treat drug dependents whose risk assessment is moderate as compared to low risk patients who are enrolled in the community based rehabilitation treatment. —/GAN (FREEMAN)