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Much more than cars

Philippine Tollway Operators
A Serious Tourism Deterrent

In October of 1966, President Lyndon Johnson of the USA, attending a Summit Conference of national leaders in the Philippines, was in a motorcade from Manila on his way to the International Rice Research Institute in Los Banos. Local government officials instructed his Filipino motorcycle escorts to remove their safety helmets and wear traditional straw hats to showcase the national culture. One escort met with an accident and was killed because he was not wearing a helmet. The reaction was to declare freeways dangerous for motorcycles and contrary to RA2000, ban motorcycles from limited access highways beginning in February of 1968. Note: RA2000 is the act of congress that defines the limits of the tollways operators authority. It clearly states that buses, trucks and commercial vehicles may be banned or the road made open to all conventional forms of transport. Considering these are the most dangerous vehicles, involved in far more accidents than any other vehicles, RA2000 makes sense.

A typical alternative road

Statistics from the Philippines Land Transport office for 1999 show that motorcycles are around 25% of the vehicles in the Philippines yet are involved in less than 1% of the accidents. Buses, by contrast, are less than 1% of the vehicles and are involved in 22% of the accidents. Trucks have similar figures to buses while cars average 2 accident per year. It is quite obvious that motorcycles have the least accidents by a very wide margin. The statistics for the years 2000 to 2002 are very similar.

Reports, statistics, figures and experience from all over the world proves beyond the slightest shadow of doubt that the safest possible roads for all vehicles are the tollways. This is especially true for motorcycles because around 90% or more of the common causes of accidents involving motorcycles simply do not exist on the tollways. Vehicles turning in or out of side turnings account for 77% of accidents involving motorcycles while most of the rest are caused by pedestrians, opposing traffic flow, vehicles stopping, turning or pulling away from a stop.

In 2001 the Secretary General of FEMA – at over 500,000 members, one of the biggest motorcycle organizations in the world and based at the United Nations - visited the Philippines during his solo motorcycle tour around the world. He was shocked to discover that motorcycles were banned from what is recognized worldwide as the safest type of roads and forced to use service roads that in his opinion were the most dangerous he had experienced in riding through 27 mostly third world countries. When he reported back to his headquarters the reaction was a recommendation from FEMA to riders worldwide to boycott tourism to the Philippines until the life-threatening ban is lifted. Letters were sent from other groups in Ireland, Sweden and elsewhere written to the President of the Philippines stating their intention to boycott Philippines tourism and asking her to save lives and stop the ban. The boycott is still in force and after the recent court decision will almost certainly grow to include hundreds of thousands more riders.

In July 2001 a group of motorcyclists won a court case against the DPWH (the Department of Public Works and Highways). The courts said the DPWH had no authority to ban motorcycles and therefore the ban was illegal and void. A writ of temporary injunction was issued but the reaction of the DPWH and the PNCC (The Philippine National Construction Company) was to introduce DO123, a new ban on about 98% of motorcycles – allowing only those of 400cc and above. This, recently declared illegal, ban only served to stir up more outrage and disgust in the international motorcycle community.

Since that time a number of PNCC staff have been imprisoned for contempt of court. The LTO (Land Transportation Office) did not honor any tickets issued to riders for using the tollways but still the PNCC and DPWH refused to obey the court writ, seemingly regarding themselves above the law.

A recent court decision reinstated the total ban, reinforcing the view of international motorcycle organizations that the Philippines Government is ignorant, anti-motorcycle and has total disregard for human life and limb.

There have been many meetings of experienced knowledgeable riders with the TRB the DPWH, the PNCC, and the LTO but never in court or at any meeting has one single logical reason for the existence of the ban or the need to maintain it been put forward.

While this situation continues, the boycott of tourism to the Philippines will continue to gain momentum and be supported by even more groups. It means that any motorcyclists that do come tourists will have to stay away from any tourist destination requiring travel on the tollways or be forced to ride some of the most dangerous roads in the country (and in the world) during their stay. We believe that a tourist riding a motorcycle on the service roads is nothing short of suicidal and the chance of a tourist being killed or seriously injured is very high indeed.

It means once again people around the world will be laughing at the Philippines or shaking their heads in disbelief, saying "Only in the Philippines". It means that motorcycle sales will certainly slump and many riders will go back to using their cars adding to the congestion on the tollways and elsewhere. Many will buy owner jeepneys that cost less than most bikes, adding to the frustration on the tollways caused by slow moving vehicles.

It means the local and international motorcycle racing that was just beginning to attract overseas riders will no longer be popular because getting to the track will be too difficult and too dangerous for most riders to bother. It means that places like Angeles, Subic, Tagaytay, etc that have become favorite places for riders at weekends will lose the business. It means the booming business in motorcycle safety clothing and equipment may die. It means companies like BMW, Ducati and Aprilia who have seen booming motorcycle sales for two years will see a massive slump in demand. It means a certain increase in the number of deaths and injuries as riders are forced to use the extremely dangerous service roads.

The ban serves no purpose whatever. The only bikes that would be endangered on the tollways would be those that cannot keep up with traffic and virtually any bike above around 125cc can maintain the maximum speed limit of 100kph. Virtually all owners of bikes that cannot keep up have no interest in using the freeways anyway. According to international studies, motorcyclists are as much as much as 148 times safer on freeways because almost all the common causes of motorcycle accidents such as junctions side turnings, opposing traffic, pedestrians, swerving jeepneys and tricycles, large differences in vehicle speeds etc simply do not exist on freeways.

The PNCC have many times given approval for large numbers of bikes as small as 50cc to join organized rides and there has never been one single incident with small bikes. In the two years that the writ of preliminary Injunction was in force allowing entry to ALL bikes thousands of motorcycles used the tollways. During the two years we know of only two accidents that involved motorcycles. One was caused by a truck stopped in the passing lane at night with no warning lights and the other caused by a truck wheel that wrecked two bikes and two cars. The result would have been exactly the same if the motorcycles were cars. During the same period there were numorous fatal accidents involving the vehicles that can legally be banned - buses, trucks and commercial vehicles.

The biggest motorcycle related Web site in Asia Motorcycle Philippines promotes motorcycle tourism and often receives messages from foreigners and Filipinos overseas who see the pictures and stories of riding in the Philippines published. They say they want to come here and ride but very few will do so until these dangerous rules are changed.

While most countries encourage motorcycle usage to reduce congestion, polution and parking problems the Philippines tollways are banning motorcycles while allowing smaoke belching dilapidated wrecks, often with faulty or no lights to cause traffic congestion and kill dozens of people each year.

This is a serious problem for tourism. Bike Week Pilippines 2003 attracted 20 or 30 overseas riders while Bike Week Phuket attracts 40,000 international riders. The biggest single thing that could be done to boost motorcyclist tourism in the Philippines would be to lift the ban or replace it with limits that comply with international norms having minimum size limits for motorcycles of 50cc to 150cc. The potential for motorcycle tourism without the ban is very good but with the ban almost non-existent.

Can somebody, anybody, tell me why this sensless, dangerous ban is allowed to continue?