MANILA, Philippines — Lawmakers mulled Wednesday the possibility of filing a separate bill suspending the implementation of the hotly-contested child car seat law amid the coronavirus pandemic.
"Since it was passed as a law, there has to be a bill passed suspending the law. It has to be the Congress, [and] it can't be done by an executive declaration...I believe the best thing really will be for us to exercise our power of the legislation and have a bill that defers this," Deputy Speaker Rufus Rodriguez (Cagayan de Oro City, 2nd District) said.
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"Congress itself being the originator of the law should be the one to defer the implementation of a law."
This came at the hearing of the House Committee on Transportation discussing the implementation of Republic Act No. 11229 or the Child Safety in Motor Vehicles Act which began on February 2 and requires that children aged 12 and below must be secured in car seats while in private cars.
As it stands, other senators have also called to suspend implementation for now, citing the added financial burden of motorists amid the pandemic. These calls materialized in the form of Senate Resolution No. 633, urging a stay on the law "until necessary guidelines are put in place and agency mandates are fulfilled."
The committee also tacked House Resolution No. 1533 entitled, "A Resolution Enjoining the Department of Transportation and Its Land Transportation Office, and the Inter-agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases to Suspend Enforcement of Specific Provisions of the Child Safety in Motor Vehicle Act (Republic Act 11229) That Prohibits Children 12 Years Old and Below Who Are Shorter Than 4’11 From Sitting in the Front Seat or From Being Left Unattended Inside a Private Vehicle and Requiring Children to Use Child Restraint Systems (Crs) or Child Car Seats That Are Appropriate for Their Age, Height, and Weight, and for Other Purposes."
Rep. Kristine Alexie Tutor (Bohol, 3rd District), in writing the resolution, pointed out that children under the age of 15 are not allowed outside residences under pandemic restrictions anyway.
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Additionally, the House resolution urged the departments and agencies to suspend their enforcement of sections in the law requiring mandatory use of child restraint systems in motor vehicles, prohibiting children 12-years-old and below from sitting in the front seats of vehicles and issuing penalties for any violators of the law.
Court TRO could also work
"There must be a bill passed for any law's suspension. The most speedy way of suspending its implementation is through judicial action. Anyone can file an application for a TRO issuance," Rep. Doy Leachon (Oriental Mindoro, 1st District) also said for his part.
Former Sen. JV Ejercito, who authored the Child Safety in Motor Vehicles Act, pointed out at the hearing that road crashes are among the leading causes of death for children, citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.
"That's the challenge for us because we don't have any power when it comes to deferring the implementation of the law...what LTO enforcers do is remind and caution motorists. And that's what we'll keep doing. If the implementation of the law is deferred, perhaps that's what should be done," Land Transportation Office Assistant Secretary Edgar Galvante said.
Both the transportation department and the LTO have said that there would be no sanctions yet for those without child car seats. They did, however, say that any violators caught will instead be warned and given information materials about the law.
Lawyer Daphne Marcelo of nonprofit law organization ImagineLaw, who was present at the hearing, also proposed that one feasible alternative would be for the LTO to instead issue a circular on the enforcement of the law "committing to non-imposition of fines for non-compliance to the provision requiring child car seats."
"The suspension of the entire law would take away other provisions affording protections to our child passengers," she said.