A committee in the House of Representatives on Wednesday vowed to pass a bill postponing the implementation of the Child Safety in Motor Vehicles Act.
Samar Rep. Edgar Mary Sarmiento, chairman of the panel, made the statement as his committee conducted a hearing Wednesday in response to various resolutions filed at the chamber calling for a review of the implementing rules of Republic Act 11229.
“The chairman will stand that the House will move on a different path and that is we pass a House bill rather than a House resolution to remedy the issue on Republic Act 11229,” Sarmiento said during the hearing.
“We will come up with a bill to defer first the implementation of the law. Congress is the law making body; Congress will find a way to defer implementation of a certain law which it sees will not work well [for the] public’s welfare,” he added.
During the hearing, Land Transportation Office chief Edgar Galvante admitted that implementing the law is a challenge to the agency.
“’That (implementation) is the big challenge to us because we do not have the power to defer the law’s implementation. But the LTO is performing in accordance to its mandate,” he told legislators Galvante also said his agency continues to educate the public about the law.
RA 11229 is set for implementation this month. Signed by the President in February last year, the law disallows children 12 years old and below who are shorter that 4’11 from sitting in the front passenger seat of a vehicle or being left unattended inside a private vehicle.
The Child Safety in Motor Vehicles Act requires children to use Child Restraint Systems (CRS) or child car seats that are appropriate for their age, height, and weight while inside a private vehicle.
Under the law, a private car owner should purchase and install CRS or car seat that is approved by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and is manufactured following the acceptable universal standards stated in UN Regulation Nos. 44 and 129.
Sarmiento maintained that the mandatory use of car seats for children is best implemented after the country recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said he believes the public is not fully-educated and well-informed about it and that others may have a hard time affording car seats for their kids because of the health crisis.
In the Senate, Senator Grace Poe on Wednesday called transport officials “incompetent” for implementing costly measures requiring car seats for children and vehicle inspection operated by private firms.
The Senate committee on public services, which Poe chairs, earlier recommended the suspension of private motor vehicle inspection operations, which began in October.
“What are they focusing on when we’re supposed to be on the same page, helping each other to alleviate the hardships of our countrymen especially at this time,” Poe told ANC’s Headstart.
“I don’t know if they’re out of touch if they’re incompetent or they simply don’t care.”
While the child seat law had good intentions, its imposition during a pandemic was “bothersome,” she said.
Senator Christopher Go, on the other hand, said the suspension of the Child Car Seat Law would not put them in danger, since current quarantine restrictions bar them from going out of their homes.
“Once the pandemic is over, the law may be implemented to ensure the safety… of children,” Go said.