Imee slams DOTr over one-sided policies on motorcycle taxis

Senator Imee Marcos on Sunday criticized the Department of Transportation (DOTr) for formulating policies on motorcycle taxi service providers “without proper consultation or debate.”

Marcos said the DOTr is putting thousands of commuters in danger and thousands of motorbike drivers out of work because of its new provisions.

She said the DOTr shut out the Senate, House of Representatives, Philippine National Police, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, motorbike taxi companies, and commuter associations when it conducted a series of closed-door meetings since November on the second phase of the motorcycle taxi pilot run.

“Iregular ito dahil ang main purpose ng pilot testing ay para maglatag ng batas na hindi lang magtitiyak ng fair competition kundi ang kaligtasan din ng riding public,” she said.

The DOTr inter-agency Technical Working Group (TWG) on motorcycle taxis extended the six-month pilot run of motorcycle ride-hailing operations, with the inclusion of two new players.

The present pilot run involving DBDOYC Inc.’s Angkas will end on December 26.

The TWG also presented new policies for service providers including setting a cap of 30,000 bikers for Metro Manila and 9,000 for Metro Cebu, which will be split evenly among three competitors.

"Angkas, JoyRide, and Move It will participate in the Extended Pilot Implementation starting 23 December 2019 up to 23 March 2020 with an overall allotted cap of thirty-nine thousand (39,000) registered bikers — ten thousand (10,000) bikers per Transport Network Company (TNC) for Metro Manila and three thousand (3,000) bikers per TNC for Metro Cebu operations," according to the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board.

Marcos said the new policies were approved only by the “exclusive TWG” headed by Antonio Gardiola Jr., with representatives from the DoTr and its line agencies, including the LTFRB and Land Transportation Office.

Motorcycle taxi pioneer Angkas has 27,000 partner-bikers. With the new provision, 17,000 partner-bikers will not be able to provide service to comply with the 10,000 cap for each company.

Due to this, Angkas staged a unity gathering in Quezon City on Sunday to protest the new policies.

For Marcos, limiting the number of test-run participants in Metro Manila to 30,000 bikers will compromise passenger safety.

“'Yung sinasabi na fair competition ay posibleng siya pang maglagay sa panganib sa mga commuter dahil maraming makakasali sa pilot test na mga driver na hindi natin tiyak kung may sapat na kasanayan,” she said.

“Lumalabas na maaaring ang bagong 20,000 motorcycle taxis na sasali sa pilot test ay posibleng walang sapat na experience at safety record na meron ang Angkas,” she added.

Angkas Regulatory and Public Affairs head George Royeca wrote an appeal letter dated December 20 to the TWG with the same concerns. 

Angkas sees safety issues in making JoyRide and Move It as new players. According to Angkas, these new players are untested with real on-ground experience.

Royeco said it took Angkas three years to learn how to manage 27,000 bikers but the new players are expected to handle 10,000 in three months.

“Joy Ride claims to already have 7,000 bikers fully accredited to operate after only three months in operation. While this does not mean they are less safe, the TWG should be more cautious given these seemingly lower standards,” Royeca said

“While Angkas has trained 117,000 in 3 years, it has failed over 70% of that to ensure very high and stringent standards resulting in only 27,000 remaining bikers to date,” Royeca noted.

In July, Marcos filed Senate Bill 409 that seeks to legitimize and regulate motorbike taxis as public utility vehicles and to encourage revenue generation for the unemployed and for the local government units that will supervise them. —Joviland Rita/KG, GMA News