A RANKING House member has slammed the proposal of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) to start impounding light electric vehicles (LEVs) such as electronic bicycles and tricycles, as they are exclusively for private use.
The LTO, during its budget deliberations at the Senate, said that they would start impounding LEVs on national roads beginning Dec. 1.
But in a statement, Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon said that the LTO cannot simply impound LEVs because under the Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act (Evida) law, LEVs intended for exclusive private use are not required to be registered with the Department of Transportation and its attached agencies, including the LTO.
“In other words, the LTO cannot use DOTC-LTO Memorandum Circular 89-105 as the basis for impounding LEVs, because these vehicles are not required to be registered with the LTO in the first place. A memorandum circular cannot override a later, specific national law,” said Ridon, who is also Public Accounts Committee chairman and Transportation Committee member.
He also said that there is no legal basis to apprehend and impound LEVs using major national thoroughfares, including national roads identified by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), as the Evida law itself allowed LEVs, whether private or for-hire, to use all major local and national roads.
“Evida mandates the creation of segregated lanes for LEVs, or their integration into bicycle lanes, along such routes,” Ridon said.
He, however, stressed that for-hire LEVs must be registered with the DOTr, its attached agencies, and local government units in which these vehicles seek to operate. For-hire LEVs should also be regulated by the national and local governments in the same manner as other for-hire modes of transportation such as tricycles, Ridon said, but a “clear distinction needs to be made for LEVs used for exclusive private use, which Evida expressly exempts from registration.”
Ridon emphasized that the entry of private-use LEVs has democratized transportation for marginalized communities, as it allowed Filipino families to bring and fetch their children from school, visit churches, and buy food and goods in wet markets — all without having to pay for tricycle or jeepney fares for short travel routes.
“In other words, the entry of private-use LEVs has dismantled the price monopoly of other transport modes in our communities. This is fully consistent with the objectives of Evida, which seeks to make micromobility ‘an attractive and feasible mode of transportation to reduce dependence on fossil fuels,’” he said.
He said that if there are concerns on the livelihood of other transport sectors as a result of broad LEV adoption, the proper remedy is to review and reform their entire business and pricing model, noting that the broad adoption of LEVs has dismantled the price monopoly long enjoyed by other transport modes.
The lawmaker has urged the DOTr, LTO and MMDA to abandon any plan or policy to impound private-use LEVs and to review their policies and guidelines to ensure full compliance with the Evida Law.
“We will hold these agencies accountable, through the appropriate congressional proceedings, for any overreach against private-use LEV users,” he said.