House to act swiftly vs e-bike ban – lawmaker

MANILA, Philippines — Bicol Saro party-list Rep. Terry Ridon yesterday vowed to use all the powers of the House of Representatives, including its oversight function, to stop the Land Transportation Office (LTO) from impounding e-bikes and e-trikes plying national roads starting tomorrow.

“On Monday, we will file a House resolution urging the Department of Transportation to direct the Land Transportation Office to immediately stop the implementation of the impounding of light electric vehicles beginning Dec. 1, 2025. Under the same resolution, we will also review the impounding mandates of the LTO and other agencies, including the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA),” Ridon said in a statement yesterday.

Ridon, chairman of the House committee on public accounts and member of the House committee on transportation, said the LTO is wrongly using the Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act implementing rules and regulations as justification to impound e-bikes and e-trikes.

“The EVIDA Implementing Rules and Regulations is being cited as the supposed legal basis for the LTO to start impounding e-trikes and e-bikes on Monday, Dec. 1, 2025, only a few days after their announcement at the Senate. But a basic reading of the EVIDA law and its IRR shows this is not correct,” Ridon said.

Ridon explained that the law itself is clear in exempting light electric vehicles from LTO registration.

“The law provides a blanket exemption to light electric vehicles (LEVs) such as e-trikes and e-bikes from being registered with the Department of Transportation and its attached agencies like the LTO. As such, the land transportation law, Republic Act No. 4136, does not apply to LEVs, even if these vehicles use public roads. Necessarily, if RA 4136 does not apply to LEVs, its penalties, including impounding, also do not apply to them,” he said.