Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque made it clear that only those who are married will be permitted to do motorcycle backriding, shortly after the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) gave couples in general the go-ahead on Thursday.
During an interview with DZMM Teleradyo, agency secretary Eduardo Año announced that starting tomorrow, July 10, backriding on motorycles will be allowed-but only for couples.
"Simula bukas, papayagan na natin yung backriding para sa mga couple, at yung prototype model [for protective shields between rider and passenger] na isinubmit ni governor Art Yap ay approved na yan ng NTF (National Task Force). Ito yung pinaka-prototype na gagamitin natin," Año said.
The (DILG) had stood firm in prohibiting backriding or pillion riding over the past several months of community quarantine, but this week, it appears the agency had a change of heart regarding the matter.
This means both married and unmarried couples living in the same household will be allowed to travel together, provided they can show proper identification to serve as proof. As of this writing, no other specific guidelines on the use of mandatory protective shields and what kind of identification documents will be accepted by authorities-we'll give you more updates as we get them.
As for the approved protective-shield prototype that Año mentioned, these are motorcycle-mounted plastic barriers that will be installed between the rider and the passenger. In case you missed it, you can check out the design here.
Año added that those who have more ideas may still submit their proposals to the NTF. The technical working group will continue to assess submitted designs and determine whether or not these are safe for motorcycle riders.
What say you, riders? Tell us what you think about these new developments in the comments.