"Angkas has effectively exploited the economic status of its members."
"Angkas has effectively exploited the economic status of its members."
It's about time someone knocked some sense into the heads of those behind motorcycle taxi operator Angkas which has effectively exploited the economic status of its members to lay claim to some sort of entitlement.
The other day, Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta Rep. Jericho Nograles straightforwardly told the people behind Angkas they have no business questioning the decision of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board to reduce its fleet of riders from 30,000 to 10,000 and should even be thankful that they are allowed to operate even without any governing law.
For one, Nograles said that documents showing Angkas is 98 percent foreign owned could already serve as basis to shut down its entire operation because their operation is a clear violation of the Constitution which requires that all public utility companies should be 60 percent Filipino owned.
In a radio interview, Nograles reiterated that the operation of Angkas is just a pilot stage and is not covered by any government franchise like all public conveyances. Therefore, the LTFRB can take any action it sees fit to protect public interest.
And since Angkas is on a "test mode" and is provisionary in nature, Nograles said that the motorcycle taxi hailing app operator has no choice but to follow the directives of the LTFRB—or be slapped with hefty fines for violation of existing law governing public conveyances.
In fact, Nograles said that the LTFRB can fine Angkas P6,000 per motorcycle per day for operating without any franchise.
The problem with Angkas is that they continued to recruit members, who mostly hail from the lower echelon of the society, even if it is on a trial phase, in a bid to strengthen its position by dwelling on their members’ economic standing.
Mahirap lang na gustong maghanapbuhay. How can you then refuse them? By being poor who want to earn a decent living, the people behind Angkas prods them to break the law, operate without a franchise, as if they were entitled to do so.
And the more the number their fleet rises, the more the people behind Angkas enrich themselves. The more reason they need to protect their interest and create a monopoly on the fledgling industry.
Thus, when LTFRB announced they were entertaining the idea of dividing the number of motorcycle taxis to the three players including Angkas, they were quick to protest as their income from every ride hailed among Angkas riders would be reduced by almost a third.
As the LTFRB has said, the riders would not be affected by the scheme as they could easily join the other players, Joyride among others. It’s just like what happened to Uber drivers who just joined Grab when the former was disallowed by the LTFRB to operate.
And it’s just timely for Nograles to remind them where they stand. They are in no position to dictate upon the government.
And because of the rising number of those wanting to engage in the motorcycle tax business and the people who want to avail of their services (even if it is not the safest form of public transportation), there is an urgency for Congress to enact a law that will govern the operation of these ride-hailing services such as Grab and Angkas.
As Nograles said, it is paramount for Congress to expedite the deliberation and the passage of measures that would set the parameters on the nature of their operation.
Meanwhile, Nograles also advised Angkas that apart from complying with the directive of the LTFRB to bring down the number of their riders to just 10,000 from the 27,000 riders, it should also address their issue on ownership because this too can be used as a basis to shut them down.
Not because they have been allowed to operate the past few months without the issue of their ownership questioned, they feel they gotten away with that crucial concern. They now have to deal with reality.