A large group of motorcycle riders and Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo on Thursday called on the Department of Transportation to allow the operation of motorcycle taxis.
At a news conference in Quezon City, George Royeca of Transport Watch urged Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade to heed the directive of Castelo to amend a department order classifying four-wheeled vehicles as the only allowed transportation network vehicle services.
He said Transport Watch, Riders of the Philippines, Motorcycle Rights Organization, Bulacan Riders Federation and Arangkada Riders Alliance have gathered 18,000 signatures in their online petition to urge DoTr to amend its department order.
“I will initiate a hearing to ask DoTR for ignoring us. We cannot afford further delay. Six months ago, transportation officials promised me to come up with up with a decision on the regulation of motorbikes [as another TNVS], to no avail. They should have decided on that in June,” Castelo told the forum.
“People are suffering. Businesses are ‘tremendously’ losing opportunities tantamount to P3 billion. Students and workers are sacrificing [too much],” he said.
With the regulation of motorbikes as another mobile-app based TNVS, “we can reduce traffic and create employment to (sic) millions of motorcycle owners,” he added.