On Saturday, February 6, Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go said that President Rodrigo Duterte does not want to implement the child car seat law or Republic Act (RA) 11229 at this time of pandemic. On the Laging Handa briefing, Go said that Duterte told him that it is not the proper time to enforce the law.
Siya (Duterte) mismo ayaw rin niyang i-implement ito. Sabi niya not this time,
said Go.
Hindi pa po napapanahon na i-implement iyang batas na ito. Nagkakahirap-hirap na nga po iyong Pilipino, huwag na nating pahirapan pa,
Go continued.
The law, which requires children up to age 12 and shorter than 4’11” to use car seats, was supposed to take effect on February 2, but the Department of Transportation and the Land Transportation Office (LTO) agreed to defer its implementation following calls from six senators to postpone its enforcement citing the lack of guidelines and the financial strain it may cause to the public.
Under the law, fines for violators are P1,000 for the first offense and P2,000 for the second offense. The third and succeeding offenses may lead to a one-year suspension of the violator’s driver’s license and a fine of P5,000.
The use of substandard child seats is also punishable under the law.
For now, LTO announced on Monday that it will begin with the “soft enforcement” of the Child Safety in Motor Vehicles Act. It will focus on information and education campaigns as well as on giving warnings to violators.
RA 11229 was signed by President Duterte on Feb. 22, 2019 and the implementation rules for the new law were approved on Dec. 23, 2019.
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