A small but important reminder...

Fellow brothers...

I don't mind my posts and materials from my blog to be shared, copied and posted anywhere...

What I do mind is when people use my material and posting it as their own...

I would appreciate it if people will quote the source of their re-posts...

I respect those who follow and support our cause and I hope people will respect the person who they are quoting...

Thank you!

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Occular inspection for the first MMRO gathering...

Today, I will be riding around all morning after work to look at possible places for the first MMRO gathering...

We will have brothers coming from the north and south so we are hoping to have the gathering somewhere in the middle...

We will be going around Ortigas and will check if we can use the Silver City grounds for this...

If we can get permission and approval from the management of Silver City, this is the most likely place for us to gather this weekend...

We also plan to ride around UP since there are a lot of places in the campus where we can all gather and have our meeting...

I will update you as soon as we figure out the best spot and we will post the location, maps and schedule for the gathering...

I will be seeing all of you soon!!!

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MRO has to do things the right way...

Hello brothers...

I have been reading and updating myself with whats been happening...

Anyway, I would like to ask everybody to keep their cool... Sudden and unplanned actions will destroy our chances of bringing this thing down and worse, it may even lead to more negative insights from the public...

We have to plan this carefully and to make sure we have all that we need when we face them in their offices, in court or in the streets...

One small mistake on our side can ruin our chances and put all our efforts to waste...

About the invitation of MCPF to a meeting with the LTO officials, there is no preparation for this... If the people who join makes a mistake of saying the wrong thing, then we are in deeper sh!t...

I know everybody is pushing for something to happen but, if we do not do this right, this law may come back and hound us over and over again...

If we study and arm ourselves properly, then we stand a better chance of removing this law for good...

So please... Keep calm and lets do this the right way...

Again, the Motorcycle Rights Organization will meet before this week ends and I will share vital knowledge to everybody that will help us end this war against these anti-motorcycle legislature...

Don't dive into something that will only lead others to turmoil... We don't want to give LTO or anybody else for that matter, a chance to turn a bikers image into something more negative...

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It has begun!!! MRO (Motorcycle Rights Organization) calls for the filing of a TRO to abolish the "modification" law!

This is it guys, the LTO has shown how half baked their laws are... Even DTI has no idea what and how to approve the modifications of motorcycles because they said themselves that they have no basis for standardization of motorcycle and motorcycle aftermarket parts...

Our position to grab a TRO is more feasible by the means on how they passed the law with out coordination, proper planning, proper study and sufficient information dissemination...

All we need now are evidences of people apprehended for the said modifications with out any basis on whether or not they promote accidents or safety...

So if you are flagged down, don't give them money... Take their ticket and bring them to me and my fellow brothers who will be part of this Motorcycle Rights Organization and we will use their own stupid law against them...

The more tickets we have, the more bullets we can shoot at them...

We will not be taking away those tickets from you... All we need to do is to take a picture of you holding your ticket and a close up of whats written on it...

Then we will all contest the tickets together and we will show them how their half baked law is prone to abuse...

We will then spread our own position paper for a TRO... We also plan to give every club all over the Philippines a petition paper to be signed by each rider to back up the request for a TRO...

Lets get locked and loaded for battle brothers... Sign your clubs now and join in so we can start this movement against them...

We will bring this out to the public and get the media involved... Lets show them how strong we are and how united we are against this tyranny being shoved down our throats...

Things that has to be done:

1. Formalize the Motorcycle Rights Organization (create the directors and the by-laws)
2. Assign the representatives who will be the front line of the organization (no officers and ranks, just directors on an equal state)
3. Register the group with SEC (non-profit organization)
4. Provide each club who participates with a copy of the petition letter to be signed by all motorcycle riders in their area or as much signatures as they can get (the more riders who sign, the stronger our petition will be)
5. Gather all donations to fund the application for a TRO and to pay for a strong and powerful lawyer to represent us all (we need to hire a competent and influential attorney so we can get this TRO on the road)
6. Show the entire nation and the whole world what a real biker's community against anti-motorcycle legislation and anti oppression is all about

What you can do now:

1. Let all your biker brothers know what is going on
2. Tell them to support the movement by signing up individually or as a whole group (you must designate a representative)
3. Explain the organization's plans on filing for a TRO by means of collecting evidences of illegal apprehension or apprehension without any basis to declare the safety of your modification
4. Attend the first gathering this weekend (place, date and time will be announced later on this thread)
5. Sign up and be a part of this organization which is focused on going to war with tyranny and oppression of our rights as motorists

This is it people. There is no stopping us now. They chose to step on our toes and oppress our freedom and rights. Let us show them that we will not succumb to their tyranny and that we will prevail.

Also, support our blog by voting on the side panel:

http://www.bikerpinoy.blogspot.com

Also sign up and show support on our thread in Senator Escudero's forums:

http://www.chizescudero.com/phpBB2/v...?p=40303#40303

Send your contact info and list of participants and representatives if your a group to this email:

gmtrueno@yahoo.com

Contact me @ 09152941987 for more details and updates on the movement.

Thank you and may god bless us all!

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A call for a Motorcycle Rights Organization!!!

As posted on the forums of motorcyclephilippines.com:

My proposal:

(Group Name) is a motorcyclists’ rights organization dedicated to preserving individual liberties and biker rights. (Group Name) works to increase motorcycle awareness among motorists. (Group Name) works to educate concerned citizens how to effectively impact the legislative process. (Group Name) encourages bikers to become politically active in their communities.

As an individual, you can help by joining (Group Name) and actively lobbying your elected officials in the ongoing struggle against legislation that would rob you of motorcycle and individual freedom in the Philippines.

(Group Name) is non-partisan and welcomes all riders and friends of liberty and freedom.

By joining (Group Name), you can be part of a grassroots biker political power that has come together to oppose anti-motorcycling legislation and to promote the implementation of programs that will help preserve motorcycling and our lifestyle.

Then we will put in an application for members who will commit to this cause.

Not that this is being promoted already by MCPF and MCP, but memberships shall comprise of a group to group basis as well as individual memberships.

After a core group has been activated and registered with the SEC, our first role will be to find as much info as we can to prepare a TRO against the AO that was recently released by the LTO on motorcycle modifications. Our next agenda is to get each club and organization to sign up and assign a representative who will participate in meetings and information dissemination about our progress.

We will also use this group to start with re-educating our riders about their motorcycles and teaching them the basic laws for all motorists.

We will also serve as a general populous geared up to eliminate corruption on the government offices and on the streets by reporting and taking photographic evidence of illegal activities such as "kotong" or "lagay".

Finally, we will seek the support and sponsorship from freedom rights groups, political figures, tv, radio and print corporations who can contribute to our cause. We will also try to get manufacturers and motorcycle businesses involved by showing them how injustices and anti-motorcycle legislatives can affect them and their businesses.

As far as the first meeting is concerned, I would like to start this asap and I was thinking of gathering the first group this week for a small get together to gather contact information for each and to talk about the first issue in our agenda which is the "modifications" rule as indicated on the AO released recently.

Any feedback and input will be greatly appreciated and I would also like to invite all interested parties to get involved starting with the clubs and organizations around Manila and it's neighboring cities and provinces.

I would also like to call on jdfvrooom on this so he can share with us his plan to set up the unified motorcycle congress.

Also, I would like to call on Don_pangan to en light us further on their plans for the motorcade and the group he's representing.

Let us join our hands and fight for our rights.

Thank you!

You may contact me via email: gmtrueno@yahoo.com
Cellfone: 09152941987

We shall show them what the motorcycle community is made of!

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An open letter to Senator Escudero regarding the discrimination of the LTO against us bikers...

This was sent via email to Senator Escudero's public and administrative email addresses...

reachus@chizescudero.com, mediagroup@chizescudero.com

Good day Mr. Chiz Escudero and likewise to your staff as well!

My name is Jobert Bolanos, 32 years old and a resident of ************************************, Marikina City.

I would like to take this opportunity to say that I am a big supporter and follower of Senator Escudero. I have always believed in him and his capacity as a politician. I trust him more than anybody in the Philippine political scene. Hence the reason why I am writing to him about a very important and urgent matter surrounding us.

Anyway, I am writing this letter to inform you of a grave injustice that is hounding the motorcycle community of the Philippines. As a rider, I am greatly alarmed by the injustice and discrimination against all motorcycle users in the Philippines. Recently, a new law prohibiting motorcycle users to improve their motorcycles has been passed by the LTO under Administrative order: AHS-2008-15(MC) which is detailed below:


The paper you see has started to circulate sometime today. It is being distributed by LTO personnel around Manila. We have nothing against a, b, c and e as they promote safer motoring for us on our bikes. It is "d" that is a immensely gray area for us. I will talk about how it is in just a moment.

The order states that this is effective on August 4, 2008, however, the flagging down has started a few weeks back. It started with out any clear and proper information dissemination to the motorcycle community. MMDA traffic enforcers, Police and LTO personnel have started the apprehending of people on motorcycles based on all the rules stated on the order. What's bothering us is the ruling on "d" is extremely vague and completely baseless. If your asking why, a significant number of bikers have been apprehended all over the metro for the following reasons:

1. Changing of the headlight assembly to an aftermarket design
2. Changing of the rear shock absorbers
3. Changing of the original rims to aluminum magwheels
4. Changing of the tires to wider and better compounds
5. Changing of the footpegs to aftermarket rearsets
6. Changing of the light bulbs to brighter brands
7. Changing of the front wheel fairings to an aftermarket design
8. Changing of the brake discs to a larger diameter for more accurate braking

And so on and so fourth. The said basis for the law according to some people from the LTO is said to promote safer traversing while riding. How does changing of the tires to a better rubber compound and brand become unsafe? How does making the road in front of us appear brighter become unsafe? How does improving the suspension of the motorcycle unsafe? And the list goes on and on.

As you can see, this has really left a huge gray area and has been subject to unscrupulous activities and questionable reasoning behind the order to flag us down for these "modifications". What's worse is that this has been subject into a means for unlawful MMDA traffic enforcers and "kotong" cops as a stepping stone for abuse.

A few bikers have already spoken about their experiences when they were apprehended because of the modifications on their bikes. And it has been seen that the people apprehending the riders are using this in order to scare the biker and put money (lagay) into their pockets.

If an LTO field operation takes place, riders caught are ticketed and asked to redeem their licenses at the main LTO office in East Avenue. Riders then go to the LTO office only to be surprised that the supposedly Php2,000 fine has increased to Php4,000 as described by one biker who attempted to redeem his license.

Our main concern here is that this is a new law. And new laws should not affect those who have already modified their bikes in the past. It is now the job of the LTO to ask and provide guidelines to each rider on what they can or cannot do to their bikes during registration. And if the vehicle fails inspection, then it doesn't get registered. What they are doing is they suddenly impose a law and immediately put pines over our heads. Fines that are no joke to people who use their motorcycles as a means of cheaper transportation and even as their Livelihood.

Another concern is that the basis for making the modifications that are intended to improve/enhance our rides has been made into a reason to flag us and fine us. Isn't it in our right to do what we want to our own property given that we do not cause harm to anybody besides and including ourselves? Now, they have taken away that right and they are putting us on a leash.

And what's adding insult to injury is that they are doing this movement on motorcycles alone. Cars who are modified themselves are not being flagged down nor inspected on check points. So we can't modify bikes but others can modify their cars, SUV's, jeeps and trucks? This is discrimination. This is injustice. How in the world can they expect us to respect these new rules when we are being singled out just because we ride motorcycles?

They never gave this an opportunity to be clarified and put into discussion with motorcycle groups and experts. They just thought of it, laid it down the table and started the order. No information dissemination besides a few interviews on the radio and Television. We never even saw this on the newspaper. And there aren't anything posted on MMDA's or the LTO's website about these violations and their corresponding fines.

Let me quote a post from the Motorcycle forums:

"this LTO guideline should not be applicable to those motorcycles that were already modified before the passage of this "guideline". sorry, i haven't read the entire guideline. just basing my reaction on the TS's comments.

Generally, laws should have only prospective application unless they are favorable to the offender who is not a habitual delinquent. Now, does the prospective rule cover only penal laws enacted by Congress? Will it not apply to penal circulars (like the LTO's guidelines)? the answer is YES.
There is this Supreme Court ruling that upholds the prospective rule will also apply to penal circulars.

In the case of Co vs. CA, October 28, 1993, it was ruled that this Circular cannot be applied retroactively because petitioners cannot be faulted for relying on the earlier official pronouncement of the Secretary of Justice that guarantee checks issued prior thereto are not covered by said Circular. That decision added that the principle of prospective of statutes, original or amendment has been applied to administrative rulings and circulars, and to judicial decisions which although in themselves are not laws, are evidence of what the laws mean, this being the reason why under Article 8 of the New Civil Code, judicial decisions applying the laws of the Constitution shall form part of the legal system.

The LTO is an administrative agency. It can exercise quasi-legislative powers by issuing circulars and memoranda with penalties. Thus, the above-mentioned case (Co vs. CA) will readily be our defense that such "Guidelines" of the LTO with the corresponding penalties shall not apply to those motorcycles that were already modified prior to its implementation.

If owners of motorcycles will modify theirs, after such effectivity/implementation, then they should be the ones who will be penalized. Good faith is not a defense when you say, i did not know of the law. i have never read of it. "Ignorance of the law excuses no one.""

As much as I would like to write more in this letter, I believe that a meeting would be a better way to explain all this and provide you with more information. May it be with you or anybody in your department who is willing and open enough to hear us out. As far as we bikers are concerned, this is an act of unlawful harassment, injustice and discrimination against us motorcycle owners and riders.

And we strongly believe that there is more to it than meets the eye. And most especially, there is a wider effect that branches out not only to the motorcycle owners and users, but to the businesses and their people who make a living in providing us the parts that we use to replace, improve or enhance the parts and the overall performance of our bikes. Sad to say, to the LTO, MMDA and PNP, it's plainly generalized as "modifications".

I would like to shed more on the issue but, I think it would be better if you take a look at my blog first since I started it because of the so called order that the LTO has been using against us.

You can find my blog here: www.bikerpinoy.blogspot.com.

You can also find more discussions about the issue on the forums of www.motorcyclephilippines.com.

If you can find the time to speak with us or have somebody meet with us, you may contact me at ******* or 09152941987. And we will be glad to answer all your questions about this matter.

Thank you and more power to you senator and your staff!



Cordially,

Jobert Christian G. Bolanos

If the honorable senator or his staff replies and grants us an audience with them, who wants to join me? You may email me if you wish to join me on this fight against discrimination.

gmtrueno@yahoo.com

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We have fallen into LTO's deaf ears... MCPF has been fooled...

Now they are going around distributing flyers about the new order. Even if they have started flagging down riders a few weeks back. Why? Because people have noticed that the order came with out proper information dissemination?

This is blasphemy. Now they have really out done themselves. After a few weeks of bikers falling into the foul traps of these arrogant fools, they start telling us and the public about it.

And it shows that the order is really intended to hit motorcycles only. Our rights have been destroyed and trampled upon and it seems that MCPF cannot do anything about it anymore. They have told us that they are in the process of amending the order, but it seems that have fallen into deaf ears.

The LTO has discriminated us riders! They have killed our rights to our own property and our lives as bikers! What's next? They will give us times to which we can go on the roads? Designate places where we can go and cannot go? Stop every biker from riding their own bikes?

What are we to do? Just give up and hang our gloves while they eat away our rights? While they single out motorcycles with their half baked order?

I am ashamed of the way LTO has turned us riders into fools!!! I am ashamed of the person whom they put incharge and pushed this order!!! I am ashamed of the way the country is diving into complete and total stupidity in making such laws!!! I am ashamed of it all!!!

It only shows to proove that the real intention here is to eliminate the motorcycle community. To completely discriminate and single us out from the other motorists on the roads. To destroy and step on every riders right to use and improve our iron horses.

If they think we will bow down to this unspeakable act of discrimination and insult, They don't seem to realize what they are getting them selves into. If they will use their own laws against us, we will use it to destroy them and their integrity.

LTO, your department and the people who run it don't deserve to be in public service because you FAIL at doing your jobs!

MMDA and Kotong Cops, as you get ready to abuse this stupid order from the LTO, we will also get ready to show the world how arrogant,discriminating and abusive you are to bikers!

If there is anybody out there who has any concern about our rights as taxpayers and as Filipinos, take a look at what your appointed officers are doing to the motorcycle community!!!

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