The operators of motorcycle ride-sharing platform Angkas may be cited for contempt if they continue to operate despite a Supreme Court order to stop operations.
Thousands of motorcycle riders continued to defy the High Court’s temporary restraining order against a Mandaluyong court ruling favoring Angkas, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board on Monday said.
The recent ruling allows the Metro Manila Development Authority, Highway Patrol Group, and all deputized traffic enforcers to apprehend Angkas drivers.
LTFRB executive director Samuel Jardin said that if a group or a party continues to defy a court order, they may be cited for contempt.
Jardin said the Office of the Solicitor General can also initiate the charges against violators.
“We should implement the law and respect the Supreme Court order,” he added.
Meanwhile, various labor groups slammed the ruling to ban Angkas as well as the proposed double big plate on public vehicles.
“Workers are both riders and commuters, thus, imposing rigid and prohibitive rules in the streets adds more burden to the working people and reinforces class discrimination in the guise of road safety and anti-crime campaign,” Partido Manggagawa said in a statement.
The group said the ban on Angkas operations denies thousands of working people a faster and safer mobility in Metro Manila.
“Banning Angkas and requiring double big plates on motorcycles will neither improve traffic conditions and road safety nor contain criminal activities of organized crime groups. Only organized communities, a disciplined police force, and a modern mass transport system can solve these age-old public services deficit,” the group said.
The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines aired the same sentiment, saying workers utilize motorcycles as the most economical and fastest mode of navigating Metro Manila traffic.