Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Director Oscar Albayalde has assured the public that motorcycle riders who would not apply for a Clean Rider sticker will not be discriminated at checkpoints.
In an ambush interview after the launch of the Clean Rider campaign plan on Wednesday at the Quirino Grandstand, the PNP chief said riders without stickers are 鈥渘ot necessarily鈥 criminals, although it would be better to have one.
鈥淸This is] voluntary in nature, wala pong sapilitan ito (We are not forcing this on anyone),鈥 he explained.
READ: PNP launches 鈥楥lean Rider鈥 campaign to fight crime
However, Albayalde said this will give them an idea why a rider would not want to register with the police.
鈥淧wede kasi nating ma-segregate kung sino 鈥榶ong meron na at kung sino 鈥榶ong wala pa, so mapapabilis din 鈥榶ong ating pag-verify (We can segregate those who have stickers and those who don鈥檛, so verification would be faster),鈥 he added.
Some individuals have expressed concerns that Clean Rider initiative is like implementing a national ID system.
Albayalde agreed that the stickers are indeed like a national ID, but it is for the protection of riders, especially law abiding citizens.
Among its advantages is that it can facilitate checkpoint processing. However, even with stickers, riders would still have to go through checkpoints, albeit quicker.
Police officers will聽 use a smart phone application to tag the stickers and information about the rider and the motorcycle will be available for cross-matching.
He said this measure does not mean that all motorcycle riders are considered crime suspects.
鈥淗indi naman natin sinasabi na naka-motorsiklo lang 鈥榶ong ano (We are not saying that all motorcycle riders are suspects), but majority of the crimes committed are perpetrated by MRS,鈥 he added.
The PNP head, who is also a motorcycle enthusiast, also reminded policemen who own and use motorcycles that they are not exempt from the 鈥楥lean Rider鈥 stickers drive.
鈥淜asama ang pulis dyan, even my motorcycle na ginagamit hindi excused d鈥檡an,鈥 he said.鈥淚papa-sticker lahat 鈥榶an, even the policemen dahil meron din, hindi naman natin pwedeng i-pagkaila 鈥榶an na 鈥榶ong mga ibang pulis, meron din silang ginagamit 鈥榶ong mga recovered motorcycles,鈥 he added.
(The police are included in this campaign. Even the motorcycle I am using is not exempted. No one is excused. Everybody needs to apply for a sticker. We can鈥檛 deny that some policemen use recovered motorcycles). /ee