OUTGOING Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya of the Department of Transportation and Communications and Chairman Winston Ginez of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board are facing a graft complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman for the “illegal” operation of Uber, U-Hop and GrabCar.
Abaya and Ginez issued an accreditation, not a franchise, to authorizing Uber and GrabCar to pick up passengers and operate within the Metro Manila, charged Jun Magno, president of Angat Tsuper Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operator ng Pilipinas Genuine Organization Transport Coalition (Stop & Go).
The operation of such transportation network vehicle service needed a franchise under the law, Magno said.
He challenged the approval of a DoTC order in 2015 permitting “innovation across all forms of public land transport” to increase mobility, improve public transport and “respond to the needs of the modern commuter.”
Abaya and Ginez committed graft in giving Uber, U-Hop and GrabCar a favored treatment at the expense of the other taxi operators and passenger drivers, Magno said.
He questioned why the two officials had allowed the three transport network services to pay just P520 in application fee to operate, and to operate without any guidelines from the House of Representatives.
“Even before the issuance of the respondents of the said department order and memorandum circulars, it already deeply affected the rights of the complainants’ officers and members being concerned citizens, taxpayers, operators and drivers of public utility vehicles. Many taxi drivers transferred to TNVS as they could allegedly have relatively good income, passengers of taxis and AUV express decreased tremendously as commuting public tried the use of TNVS resulting in loss of income of operators and drivers of these taxis and AUV express,” Magno’s complaint read.