Commuter groups on Wednesday called on Congress to pass a bill legalizing motorcycle taxis nationwide as the six-month pilot test is set to end this month.
Lawyers for Commuter Safety and Protection, Komyut and Move Metro Manila”•the original members of the technical working group of the Department of Transportation”•asked the House of Representatives and the Senate to intervene in another six-month test run for Angkas and other motorcycle taxi operators.
Commuter groups said they were excluded from the decision-making process of the TWG that extend the pilot run for another six months.
“Why are they extending it? If they are convinced that the test run was successful, why not just direct Congress to come up with a law to regulate this service?” lawyer Ariel Inton of the LCSP, also a member of the TWG, said.
“We have to stop the testing. If we are convinced, go ahead, let Congress pass the law,” he said.
Toix Cerna, spokesperson of the commuters group Komyut, said: “Since August, we have been seeking for the TWG to be convened to discuss the initial data, and experience of Angkas, but to no avail.”
“Our task was also to monitor and assess the results of the pilot so that we are informed of what to recommend for the legislative measures pending in Congress,” she said.
Raymond Gascon of Move Metro Manila said that, “in principle we agree with the need for the motorcycle taxi safety protocols to be extended to and applied to other motorcycle taxi service providers”.
“Competition is good and should be a welcome development. We are just concerned with the process through which this decision was made without us having been call into a meeting at all,” Gascon said.
Move Metro Manila is a group of policy advocates organizing policy discussions on mobility.
The LCSP earlier filed a petition for injunction with application for a temporary restraining order and/or writ of preliminary injunction against five motorcycle taxi companies including We Move Things Philippines Inc. (Joyride), Habal Rides Corp., I-Sabay, Sampa-Dala Corp. and Trans-Serve Corp.
“Our objective in the LCSP is to ensure the safety and protection of the riding public,” Inton, a former Land Transportation Franchise and Regulatory Board member, said.
“And we are worried that the new motorcycle players who will join the test run may just endanger the lives of commuters because they do not have the same stringent safety standards as what the riding public has been accustomed to in the initial test run,” he said.
“We in the LCSP call on the DOTr to ensure that the welfare of the riding public is given priority by ensuring that the new players the agency is considering to include in the announced test run extension undergo a thorough review and assessment much like what the TWG did back then for Angkas,” Inton said.