Manila roads are chaotic and dangerous, which is plenty good reason to wear a helmet if you’re riding a motorbike.
It’s also, of course, the law. Neither reason was good enough for a woman featured in a viral video posted yesterday who threw a fit after traffic enforcers pulled her over for not wearing a helmet while she was riding pillion.
The video, posted on Facebook page Gadget Addict, starts a few minutes after a Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) traffic enforcer issued the motorcycle driver a ticket because his passenger — the charmer in question — was not wearing a helmet.
As of posting time, the video had 7.2 million views, more than 130,000 shares, more than 120,000 reactions, and 69,000 comments.
“Motherfucker, are you going to hurt me?” the woman, identified as Chezka Bautista, said as she pushed the man recording the video. She reached out for the man’s recording device multiple times and cursed as she told him to stop recording. She then tried to throw the helmet at the man.
Her reason for not wearing a helmet? She was using it to carry food.
“The problem is, you were already given a ticket for not wearing a helmet… and you’re still not wearing it,” MMDA Supervising Officer for Operations Bong Nebrija patiently told them.
“I told you, look, we’re carrying food,” the driver replied, before then telling Nebrija they were angry because they thought the traffic enforcers were laughing at them.
Bautista also explained that she was talking to someone on the phone, but Nebrija said this was not an excuse and that they should have stopped the vehicle first.
In a Facebook post by Bautista yesterday, she said she admits that what she did was wrong but said people don’t know the whole story. She said that the traffic enforcers were allegedly laughing at and judging them and moved to the other side of the road when she was about to complain about their behavior.
“Just because you knew that one of your enforcers was being rude? He wasn’t issuing us a ticket but was butting in…anyone else you’d do that to would be rude to you as well,” she said.
The video ended with the traffic enforcers issuing the driver another ticket.
Those who are caught riding a motorcycle without a helmet are fined PHP1,500 (US$28.87) for the first offense, PHP3,000 (US$57.74) for the second offense, PHP5,000 (US$96.70) for the third offense, and PHP10,000 (US$192.49) plus confiscation of their driver’s license for the fourth and succeeding offenses.
