Gov. Arthur Yap says he tried to convince national authorities to relax the “no backrider” but to no avail.
The policy remains to be in effect even if the backrider is a family member or not.
The policy is in effect in Bohol as the province transitions to the Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ) starting June 1 until June 15, 2020.
Yap announced the refusal to his request by the national authorities during a press briefing Friday (May 29) at the lobby of the New Capitol.
His request was to relax the “no backrider” rule.
Yap said that he appealed to Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año to allow a backrider on a motorcycle for as long as the back rider is a family member of the motorcycle driver.
The “no backrider” policy is an important issue as in some towns, the motorcycle is the chief mode of transportation.
Moreover, the governor said that Año was firm in his decision not to allow a backrider on a motorcycle even if the area, like Bohol, is under the modified general community quarantine (MGCQ).
The Province of Bohol is one of the provinces that appealed to the Inter-Agency Task-Force to allow a motorcycle backrider especially if a family member is the backrider.
Physical distancing remains to be the reason the IATF is still disallowing motorcycle backrider, Yap said.