The History of the Ban
on Motorcycles Using the Tollways
See the end of this page for links to related articles and information.

Links to related pages

19 February 1968
In an Administrative Order entitled Revised Rules and Regulations Governing Limited Access Facilities issued by the then Department of Public Works and Communications, the following rule is contained: "On limited access highways, it is unlawful for any person or group of persons to: Drive any bicycle, tricycle, pedicab, motorcycle or any vehicle not motorized"

Based on stories we have heard from older members of the motorcycle community, the inclusion of motorcycles in the list of vehicles not allowed inside Limited Access Facilities seems to have started following an accident on the SLEX involving a police officer. Over thirty years ago, police officers on board motorcycles were ordered to escort visiting U.S. dignitary Richard M. Nixon to the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Banos, Laguna. The Government, wanting to give Mr. Nixon a nationalistic welcome, ordered these same police officers to replace their safety helmets with traditional Filipino hats. Unfortunately, tragedy struck along the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) when one of the motorcycle officers was killed in an accident on the way to IRRI. In a knee-jerk reaction to this unfortunate but preventable incident, the Department of Public Works and Communications ordered an immediate ban of motorcycles from the Limited Access Facilities.

1968 – 2001
The Department of Public Works and Communications is superseded by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). The ban is now maintained under the Revised Rules and Regulations on Limited Access Facilities issued in 1997 by the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) and approved by then DPWH secretary, Gregorio R. Vigilar. The ban reads as follows: "The following vehicles shall not be allowed in the Expressway at any time: a.) motorcycles, tricycles, and bicycles" The ban is enforced by the Philippine National Construction Corporation (PNCC) which is the only entity legally allowed to operate tollways as prescribed under Presidential Decree No. 1112 issued in 1977. It is an interesting fact to note that Secretary Vigilar, who has expressed very strong anti-motorcycling opinions, was also the Chairman of both the TRB and the PNCC at the time. Here are some documented quotes from Secretary Vigilar and his staff representing these organizations:

1. "The tendency of motorcyclists to sneak in and out of openings in the traffic is risky and dangerous, and coupled with the exhilaration and joy of speed, is the sure formula for accidents" Secretary Vigilar, 2 December 1999

2. "To grant exemptions and allow certain types of motorcycles on the expressways will only cause confusion and might result in accidents which we are seeking to avoid by the ban." Secretary Vigilar, 2 December 1999

3. "Consistent to our commitment to protect the interest of the motoring public, therefore, we reiterate our objection to such an amendment (of the Revised Rules and Regulations on Limited Access Facilities)." Leonilo G. Javier, PNCC Vice President for Tollways Group, 26 October 1999

4. "PNCC's stand not to allow motorcycles inside the expressways has always been upheld in the interest of public safety." Leonilo G. Javier, PNCC Vice President for Tollways Group, 26 October 1999

5. "It is informed that the department cannot, with much regret, give favorable action since the policy of Congress in enacting this statute [R.A. 2000] is for the immediate preservation of public peace, health, and safety, (emphasis ours) or simply stated, the purpose of which is to forestall or prevent the occurrence of vehicular accidents especially considering the make of motorcycles." Manuel G. Bunan, DPWH Assistant Secretary for Legal and Internal Audit, 13 October 1999

10 January 2001
Seeking to improve road safety for all motorists, several motorcycle clubs, directly representing over five thousand active members, file a civil action in the courts of Makati City challenging the TRB’s rule banning all motorcycles from operating within the country’s tollways. The petitioners allege that the ban is illegal under existing law and, moreover, that it threatens public safety by forcing all motorcyclists onto alternative roadways that are clearly not as safe as the tollways, which by design are free of the many hazards or obstructions that most often contribute to vehicular accidents (e.g., high-traffic intersections, road islands, opposing traffic, poorly designated PUV passenger loading and unloading zones, and pedestrians).

By removing the ban, the likelihood of motorcycle-involved accidents, already less than one percent of total vehicular accidents in 1999 based on Land Transportation Office (LTO) statistics, is expected to be reduced even further. Nationwide, motorcycles constitute nearly one-third of the total registered motor vehicle population and are a vital means of transportation for millions.

A central argument in the case is the fact that Republic Act No. 2000, also known as the Limited Access Highway Act, only authorizes the exclusion of trucks, buses, and other commercial vehicles from the tollways. However, the petitioners observe that the TRB has outlawed only motorcycles on the tollways even though no such authority to do so exists under the law. Representing the petitioners is Atty. Michael Ureta.

16 July 2001
Motorcycle riders are now allowed on the tollways. In a Writ of Preliminary Injunction, the Makati Regional Trial Court, Branch 147 ruled that motorcyclists have the legal right as licensed motorists to use the tollways. In the 5-page decision, Judge Teofilo L. Guadiz, Jr. said that respondents DPWH and TRB have no power or authority to ban motorcycles on expressways and “therefore, the ban in the expressways on motorcycles is void and illegal”. The judge also cited the predicament of the motorcyclist-petitioners who are forced to use the more dangerous side roads in their travels as a result of the motorcycle ban.

18 July 2001
Two days after the court writ was issued, reacting to the defeat in court, the DPWH hastily issues Department Order #123, Series of 2001 (DO 123). The order is signed by then DPWH Secretary Simeon A. Datumanong under advice of PNCC Chairman Luis Sison who would later resign from his post under controversial circumstances. DO 123 introduces a ban on motorcycles with engine displacements of less than 400cc. No public consultation on the provisions of DO 123 is held even though this order clearly impacts on a sizeable segment of the population. With DO 123, the DPWH accepts that less than 1% of the Philippine motorcycling population (those rich enough to afford large, imported motorcycles) can have access to the tollways. No motorcycle above 250cc is manufactured in the Philippines. Motorcyclists contend that DO 123 violates the Writ of Preliminary Injunction issued by the courts just two days earlier and prepare to challenge the order.

August 2001 to 2003
The civil case filed in January 2001 by concerned motorcyclists is now up for final decision. The PNCC, operating as an agent of the TRB, continues to disregard the Writ of Preliminary Injunction while enforcing DO 123. Sub-400cc motorcyclists are regularly apprehended by PNCC traffic enforcers for entering the tollways only to have the alleged violation (disregarding traffic signals and/or obstruction) dismissed by the LTO who recognizes the supremacy of the Writ over DO 123.

Some motorcyclists, angered by the arrogance of the PNCC, file cases of contempt against PNCC traffic enforcers and officials. The courts jail several traffic enforcers as a result. Several contempt charges remain pending against high-level PNCC and DPWH officials.

April 16 - June 24 2003
MMDA Supports the Writ, cancelling a ticket issued to a rider on Coastal Road tollway.
On April 11 2003 one of our members riding a 175cc bike on the coastal road was stopped by a coastal road officer. The rider showed the officer the "anti-apprehension kit" and explained that the officer was in contempt of court but the officer ignored the advice and issued a ticket for disregarding traffic signs. The violation was contested by the rider and since then the MMDA have been passing the case to higher and higher levels as each level said the ticket should be cancelled. On June 24, the final decision was issued saying that the writ of preliminary injunction stands and therefore motorcycles are legally allowd to use the coastal road tollway. It is likely the officer will be charged with contempt of court and other charges.

June 16 2003
In an Order dated June 16, 2003, Judge Cristina Cornejo of the Makati City Regional Trial Court, Branch 147 has denied the Motion for Partial Reconsideration filed by the petitioners with respect to the Decision rendered on March 10, 2003 declaring DPWH DO 123 (i.e., the sub-400cc ban) illegal and upholding the total ban on motorcycles within the tollways. This surprise decision is a completely opposite view to that of the previous judge who declared the ban illegal and void.
The petitioners have now passed the case to the supreme court.
Senior government officials who have been reading the news on Motorcycle Philippines have said that they have no problem with bikes on the freeways but it appears there are political issues because some bikers wanted to support the now defunct DO123 that bans bikes below 400cc. For this reason they would prefer not to do anything until after the elections.
We know there are no political issues whatever and that the only reason some wanted to support DO123 was because they were happy to sacrifice the safety of sub400cc riders in order to stay on the freeways themselves.

What The Law Says
Under the law, the only entity allowed to regulate a limited access facility is the DPWH. The law that gives the DPWH this power is Republic Act No. 2000, also known as the Limited Access Highway Act which was approved on 22 June 1957 by Congress. Note: The DPWH no longer has this authority.  Only the DOTC does.

As an executive body, the DPWH is tasked to implement rules and regulations consistent with the intent of R.A. 2000. It tried to do this with the Revised Rules and Regulations Governing Limited Access Facilites. However, R.A. 2000 never mentions motorcycles explicitly. R.A. 2000 does allow certain vehicles to be banned from limited access facilities and it mentions these quite explicitly: A limited access facility "may be parkways, from which trucks, busses, and other commercial vehicles shall be excluded; or they may be free ways open to use by all customary forms of street and highway traffic."

The prevailing legal opinion is that before motorcycles can be banned from any limited access facility, the DPWH must first ban the more accident-prone "trucks, busses, and other commercial vehicles" and, after doing so, must then prove that motorcycles fall under the same category as these vehicles.

Obviously, this is not the case. But there is more to it than just R.A. 2000 and the DPWH implementing regulations. How does the TRB enter into the picture? Well, curiously enough, a limited access facility is not necessarily a tollway and a tollway is not necessarily a limited access facility, and R.A. 2000 gives no power to the DPWH to delegate its authority to another government entity (especially one that reports directly to the Office of the President as the TRB does as decreed in Executive Order No. 67 dated 26 January 1999) but that's exactly what happened.

It turns out that on 5 April 1993, the DPWH issues Department Order No. 74 which designates the South Luzon Expressway, Nichols to Alabang sections, and the North Luzon Expressway, Balintawak to Tabang sections, as limited access facilities "subject to such rules and regulations that may be imposed by the DPWH thru the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB)". Take note that the limited access facility is identified as only a section of both the North and South Luzon Expressways and the TRB is given no authority to extend this.

In 1997, when the TRB issues the Revised Rules and Regulations on Limited Access Facilities, it conveniently oversteps its original and already questionable authority granted by the DPWH-under Article I of the order, the following statement is made: "The Toll Regulatory Board (or the Board), in accordance with Department Order No. 74, hereby declares the North and South Luzon Expressways, including the Balintawak to Tabang Section of the North Luzon Expressway and the Nichols to Alabang Section of the South Luzon Expressway, as Limited Access Facilities or Expressways".

In a single, possibly illegal declaration, the TRB extends the limited access facilities to include the entire North and South Luzon Expressways! The Coastal Toll Road connecting Manila to Cavite, a road which motorcyclists have safely traversed for many years, would also be declared a limited access facility sometime in 1998 or 1999 thereby preventing all motorcyclists from using it.

Motorcycles are Dangerous?
The Government wants us to believe that in banning motorcycles from the tollways, it is upholding public safety, but here is the real story: · Any rule or regulation claiming itself to be in the interest of road safety must meet the standard of a valid countermeasure. The expressway ban on motorcycle operation does not meet this standard. In traffic safety parlance, an effective countermeasure is any action, measure, or step taken that leads to a quantitative reduction of accident or injury risk associated with the use of any type of vehicle by specifying a minimum or maximum standard for vehicle operation.
Looking again at the Revised Rules and Regulations on Limited Access Facilities issued by the TRB, we see that the following vehicles shall not be allowed on the expressways at any time:

1. motorcycles, tricycles, and bicycles
2. vehicles being towed
3. dilapidated vehicles or those with defective components
4. smoke-belchers
5. trucks carrying uncovered construction aggregates
6. vehicles carrying unfastened cargo
7. trucks exceeding a maximum gross vehicle weight

As can be plainly seen, restrictions #2-7 refer to standards for vehicle operation and are therefore valid countermeasures. A vehicle that is immobilized (#2), dilapidated (#3), smoke-belching (#4), carrying uncovered or unfastened cargo (#5-6), or overloaded (#7) may be fixed/corrected to conform to the standard. With restriction #1, what opportunity exists to correct the fact of the motorcycle being what it is, a motorcycle? · The ban on motorcycles, does not define a standard for vehicle operation but is merely an absolute restriction on use that implies motorcycles, no matter what their condition or capability, are far too dangerous for use on public roads, a concept clearly inconsistent with the registration of motorcycles and the licensing of motorcyclists by the LTO and the fact that motorcycles are legally allowed to operate on all parts of the public road system with the exception of the expressways.

In addition, the ban, whether total (all motorcycles) or partial (sub-400cc), cannot be said to lead to a quantitative reduction in accident or injury risk to road users as this merely relocates where motorcycles are allowed to operate as an alternative to operation on the expressways. In fact, we assert that the ban actually increases the risk of accident or injury to all road users (motor vehicle occupants, bicyclists, and pedestrians) by forcing an entire group of road users (i.e., motorcyclists) onto roads where the actual number of road hazards is greater.

On the expressways, by design, traffic movement is highly predictable to all road users due to the one-way or uni-directional flow of traffic within a very narrow speed range. On the alternative access roads, any road user must contend with a wider range of traffic (not just motor vehicles but pedestrians, bicyclists, even animals) moving in the same direction, in an opposite direction (adjacent opposing lanes), in a perpendicular direction (intersections and driveways), and, at times, even random directions over a wider range of speeds.

The failure of the ban to improve traffic safety has already been confirmed by the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) in an internal memorandum dated 12 November 1999 from the Road Transportation Planning Division to the Undersecretary of Transportation, stating that the ban is an "unnecessary restriction on the operation of motorcycles which" does "not contribute to highway safety" and is "not in accordance with international norms". International traffic research studies show that motorcycles are far from the most dangerous vehicles on public roadways. This dubious distinction rightfully belongs to commercial vehicles, large trucks and busses in particular, that are associated with traffic accident fatality rates over 50% higher than those of automobiles and motorcycles.

Rather than waste time with the court of appeals the riders went straight to the Supreme Court and eventually the following Press release was issued on June 19th 2006

Supreme Court Strikes Down Motorcycle Ban on Tollways

The Motorcycle Philippines Federation (MCPF) welcomes the recent decision of the Supreme Court voiding Department of Public Works and Highways Department Order Nos. 74 (1993), 215 (1998), and 123 (2001) and the Toll Regulatory Board’s Revised Rules and Regulations on Limited Access Facilities (1997).
With this sweeping decision, the North Luzon Expressway, South Luzon Expressway, and Manila-Cavite Coastal Toll Road and other highways are no longer declassified as Limited Access Highways, paving the way for all motorcyclists to legally ply these roads as they are encouraged do in more developed countries to reduce congestion and pollution.

The now voided Department Order Nos. 74 (1993), 215 (1998) designated the SLEX, NLEX, and Coastal Road as Limited Access Highways administered through  Department of Public Works and Communications Administrative Order No. 1 (1968).. Under Administrative Order No. 1, motorcycles are banned from Limited Access Highways.

Department of Public Works and Highways Department Order No. 123 banned motorcycles under 400cc while allowing high-power large displacement motorcycles to use the Limited Access Highways.  Department Order No. 123 was twice previously declared illegal by the Makati Regional Trial Court prior to the Supreme Court decision.

On September 21, 2005, after a presentation given by Frank Woolf , President GMA ordered DOTC Secretary Leandro Mendoza to immediately look into the problem of motorcycles being banned from tollways and to bring the Philippines into line with international standards.  The Supreme Court ruling is a big step in this direction.

The motorcycle community has for many years been fighting the ban, put in place by misconceptions and lack of understanding, that forced riders from the safest roads onto alternative roads that are some of the most dangerous in the country, estimated to be as much as 200 times more dangerous than the tollways.

All over the world motorcycle use is being encouraged to reduce congestion and pollution. The recent Supreme Court decision is one step in ending the disbelief of the international motorcycle community over the unwarranted and unsafe discrimination against Filipino motorcyclists.

Notes:
In short the Supreme Court said that the designation of the tollways as Limited Access Highways was illegal therefore there are no limited access highways.  As the only legal ban applies only to limited access highways there is obviously no legal motorcycle ban on any road.

It is important to note that over the years the riders have never suggested completely unregulated use of tollways by motorcycles.  Many attempts have been made by the riders to help introduce sensible rules and regulations on the tollways that comply with international standards but every attempt has been either rejected, ignored or not acted upon.

At the time of this update (March 2007) the tollway management companies are still defying the Supreme Court by stopping motorcycles that enter tollways.  The LTO (the official body regarding traffic laws) continues to reject penalty tickets issued to riders by tollways staff while the riders are gearing up for more protest rides.

September 17, 2007
On September 17, 2007, petitioners James K. Raterta, Carlos Quimson, Ralf Kamb, and Mad Dog Motorcycle Club, Inc. filed before RTC Branch 197, Las Pinas a Petition for Declaratory Judgment with Application for Temporary Restraining Order/Preliminary Injunction docketed as Civil Case SCA-07-0006. The petition sought the nullification of DPWC AO 1 for unconstitutionality and for exceeding the authority granted to respondent DOTC by RA 2000. The Petition also sought the following:

a. to declare null and void the Motorcycle Ban ordered and sought to be enforced by respondent Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) for being issued without authority from the DOTC, and for being in violation of Petitioners' right to due process;
b. to enjoin respondents from prohibiting petitioners' access to the Toll Ways, for lack of authority of respondent TRB to do so and if such Motorcycle Ban has been implemented, to cease and desist from preventing Petitioners' access to the Limited Access Highways.

October 3, 2007
On October 3, 2007, the Las Pinas trial court, thru Judge Manuel N. Duque, after due hearing, issued a writ of preliminary injunction stating that "If however, the TRB and DOTC, had already implemented the ban against the use of motorcycles, the said offices are hereby ORDERED to LIFT the said ban and allow petitioners to access the limited access facilities and/or highways, considering that the Injunction Bond filed by plaintiff in the amount of One Hundred Thousand Pesos (P100,000.00) under Bond No. 00760 issued by Travellers Insurance Surety Corporation was admitted and approved by this Court".

Below are several links to additional information on the subject:

1. Pertinent Laws, Regulations, and other Legal Resources
• Regulations Proposed by the TRB and agreed by the Freedom Riders in early 2001
• Regulations published by the DPWH in August 2001
• Comments on the Regulations published by the DPWH in August 2001
• Anti-apprehension Kit (includes court ruling, court writ, and other papers)

2. Road Use Data, Statistics, and Information
• The Alternative routes that riders are forced to use
• Reports from riders who have tried to use the alternative routes
• The 1999 Philippines Department of Transport statistics of Motorcycle and other vehicle accidents
• The Hurt Report. An internationally recognized study of the causes of Motorcycle accidents
• An international study carried out by Dynamic research Inc comparing accident rates on and off freeways

3. News Reports
• The Meeting of the Minds International riders rights meeting in Chicago, USA
• The first Freedom Rally to raise money for the legal fund
• The second rally to raise money for the legal fund and for the children of LIFE
• The court injunction and writ stating the ban to be illegal and void
• Riders ride the freeways to prove PNCC are issuing tickets in spite of court ruling.
• Riders first ride after the introduction of the 400cc rule.
• Director General of FEMA sees for himself

4. Impact on Tourism
• Article on the Bantay Turista Foundation web site

5. Riders Reports
• So what are the alternative routes really like?
• Riders try using other routes