DOTr-TWG accuses Angkas of using commuter group in smear attempt

The Department of Transportation's Inter-Agency Motorcycle Taxi Technical Working Group (TWG) on Saturday suggested that commuter advocacy organization Lawyers for Commuter Safety and Protection (LCSP) was not interested in commuters' welfare, but was rather championing the interests of motorcycle taxi service Angkas.

In their statement, the TWG argued that during the LCSP's Friday press conference during which the commuter group accused Senator Koko Pimentel of endorsing motorcycle taxi service JoyRide and threatened to file graft charges against TWG officials, LCSP representatives had used the same arguments Angkas had used against the TWG's guidelines.

"Is it merely a striking coincidence that the LCSP is earnestly trying to project that it is taking the cudgels for the other [motorcycle taxi transport network companies], which, according to them, had been deliberately excluded by the TWG, even as their sudden appearance in yesterday’s press conference was arranged by Geiser-Maclang, which happens to be the PR agency also of Angkas?" the TWG asked.

"Curiously, why didn’t the LCSP take up the issue of Angkas and its serious violations and transgressions in the press conference, which reveals how it has been treating the MC Taxi Service Pilot Run as its own business feasibility study?"

The TWG then flat-out accused Angkas of using the LCSP to suggest that the TWG was involved in corruption in the extended study on the viability and safety of motorcycle taxis, citing allegations of  “serious irregularities” in the selection of new participants.

"It is therefore unfortunate, but necessary, that we, at the TWG, are compelled to confront this brazen attempt by Angkas to distort the narrative, using the LCSP as a deflection to destroy the credibility of the TWG, and sway public opinion."

Last December 18, 2019, the TWG extended the six-month pilot run of motorcycle ride-hailing operations for another three months, with the inclusion of two new players —JoyRide and Move It.

The pilot run involving motorcycle taxi pioneer Angkas was supposed to end on Dec. 26, 2019.

The body, however, allowed Angkas, together with new players to participate in the “Extended Pilot Implementation” starting December 23, 2019 up to March 23, 2020 with an overall allotted cap of 39,000 registered bikers —10,000 bikers per Transport Network Company (TNC) for Metro Manila and 3,000 bikers per TNC for Metro Cebu operations.

The pilot run was approved in aid of legislation in both the House of Representatives and the Senate to evaluate pending bills pushing for the legalization of motorcycles as public utility vehicles (PUVs). — DVM, GMA News