Pulling out motorcycle taxis to cause further traffic complaints – solon

Pulling out motorcycle taxis from the roads would only generate more complaints from the riding public who were already suffering from heavy traffic, House Committee on Transportation chair Edgar Sarmiento said Sunday.

"Ang concern ko talaga, napakasimple. Kapag tinigil natin ito, ang magrereklamo ay ang mamamayan. Kasi ngayon ang nawawala sa kanila... hirap ang mamamayan," Sarmiento told Dobol B sa News TV.

"Habang hindi pa naaayos ang efficiency ng mass transportation, kailangan natin talaga ang support muna ng isang sektor kung saan tinutulungan nila ang mamamayan na umabot naman sa pinupuntahan nila sa madaling panahon," he added.

The Department of Transportation’s (DOTr) inter-agency Technical Working Group (TWG) earlier announced that it will no longer extend the pilot run of Angkas and other motorcycle taxi services, and these providers would thus have to wait for existing laws to be amended to allow their operations.

Sarmiento said that at least 15 bills were currently pending at the House of Representatives which would allow the operations of motorcycle taxis.

He said that there needed to be an in-depth study and deliberation on these proposals before the chamber acted on them.

"May nakita akong mga modelo sa ibang bansa, na sana bago man natin isabatas ito, I have to make sure na ito'y nasusunod din," Sarmiento said.

"Ang ayoko lang talaga dito sa desisyon, siyempre pag-uusapan ito ng Kamara, ang sa akin sana hindi muna dapat magkakaroon ng dislocation ang mga tao kung saan umaasa ng trabaho sa isang sektor," he added.

The TWG had allowed Angkas, together with new players JoyRide and Move 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.

Angkas has since criticized the move to put a cap on the number of riders and even accused the TWG of corruption.

The TWG, however, said that extending the pilot run was not about the livelihood of riders but only to come up with a study for the eventual crafting of a law legalizing motorcycle taxi operations. — Erwin Colcol/DVM, GMA News