MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. instructed the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and local government units (LGUs) not to penalize e-bicycles and e-tricycles plying national roads in Metro Manila.

Marcos said more time is needed to educate the public about the ban, which will remain in place.

“Under the grace period, e-trikes will not be ticketed, fined, and impounded,” Marcos said in Filipino in a post on X on Thursday, April 18.

“If they will be apprehended, the purpose is to inform them about the roads they can ply, and remind them about the new policies being enforced to maintain order and safety in the streets,” the President added.

In a separate video message, Marcos said the grace period lasts for one month.

MMDA Regulation No. 24-022, released in February, lists nearly two dozen roads where e-bikes, e-trikes, tricycles, pedicabs, pushcarts, and kuligligs are prohibited beginning April.

The MMDA has said that the resolution seeks to set clearer guidelines about the affected vehicles, which are supposedly “a common cause of traffic and road crash incidents.”

MMDA data put the number of road crash incidents involving electric vehicles at 554 in 2023.

Transport advocacy group Move as One Coalition, however, said the MMDA made a sweeping statement that lacks context, noting that MMDA data from 2022 show deaths from bike, e-bike, and pedicab accidents only accounted for 4% of total road fatalities. – Rappler.com