MANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte has signed into law a measure requiring motorcycles to have bigger, readable, and color-coded number plates.

“Motorcycle Crime Prevention Act” or Republic Act no. 11235 aims to prevent crimes by making number plates more readable from a distance. The plates will be also color-coded based on the country’s regions.

Duterte signed the law last March 8. Malacanang released a copy Thursday.

Under the new law, a motorcycle owner must register his motorcycle within 5 days after purchase, and failure to do so would result in imprisonment or a fine of not less than P25,000.

Driving without a number plate can result in imprisonment and a fine of P50,000 to P100,000. Enforcers will also confiscate the motorcycle and it will only be released upon proof of ownership and “payment of the costs of seizure, and compliance with a number plate or readable number plate.”

Law enforcers may also face jail time if they are unable to report or surrender a seized motorcycle within 24 hours.

The use of stolen plates will also have a fine of P50,000 to P100,000.

If proven that a motorcycle was used for a crime of grave felony or escape from the scene of a crime, its owner, driver and passenger will face 12 to 40 years in prison.

An impounding center will also be set up and a digital data of seized motorcycles will be shared real-time with the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Land Transportation Office (LTO).

The Joint LTO and PNP Operations and Control Center will have a hotline to address concerns relating to crimes committed with the use of motorcycles.

Motorcycle owners will have to renew their registration and apply for the new number plates before June 30 this year. The LTO will have to produce and release the plates by December 31, 2019. By next year, the penal provisions of the new law will take effect.

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