Tugade against e-scooter registration
MANILA, Philippines — Transportation secretary Arthur Tugade is against the looming requirement to have e-scooters registered amid the coronavirus pandemic, his spokesperson said Thursday.
In a statement, the department also clarified that no official guidelines have been filed yet for the pending measure, which gained notoriety on social media once the news broke.
Alternative forms of transportation, including bicycles and scooters, saw an uptick in sales amid the suspension and limitations on public transportation over the past community quarantines.
"There is no official/final guidelines yet. The one submitted to us is an initial draft that is yet to be reviewed by the DOTr Road Sector, Legal Affairs, and the Office of the Secretary," transportation spokesperson Goddes Libiran said in a text message to reporters.
"Sec. Tugade was interviewed on the issue of e-scooters yesterday, and he said that personally, he is not in favor of having e-scooters registered, especially now that we are in a pandemic...[he also] said that he will listen to the opinions/arguments of regulators and stakeholders," she added.
Speaking in an interview aired over dZMM TeleRadyo on Tuesday, Land Transportation Office chief Edgar Galvante disclosed that the department was looking at issuing guidelines on the use of electric scooters.
"There is already an administrative order we have drafted that will consolidate the guidelines. It is waiting for the approval of DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade," he said in Filipino when asked about the possibility of crafting guidelines for scooters.
"Every vehicle that is electric or gasoline-powered and makes use of public thoroughfares should be registered, while its driver must have a license," he also said then.
Earlier on in the coronavirus-induced quarantines, the government's coronavirus task force also imposed limitations on motorcycle back-riding where only married couples living together were allowed to engage in pillion-riding.
RELATED: Task force apprehends over 7,000 for 'unauthorized couple back-riding'
Other relatives who were also living together, such as siblings and family members, were not allowed to back-ride since they were not romantic partners. Back-riders who were caught doing so without being couples were "accosted" and given warnings, while some were even arrested for "being disrespectful to arresting officers," according to the Joint Task Force COVID Shield.
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