Angkas’s 17,000 riders may be saved as the DOTr has retracted the 10,000 rider cap per motorcycle taxi service provider. The new total cap is now at 63,000 motorcycle taxi riders covering Metro Manila, Metro Cebu and with the addition of Cagayan de Oro. In addition, the MC Taxi Pilot Run program will continue as initially planned until March 2020.
Each motorcycle taxi service provider can now have 15,000 riders each for Metro Manila, an additional 3,000 riders each for Metro Cebu, and an additional 3,000 riders each for Cagayan de Oro. This puts the nationwide total for each service provider at 21,000 each. The total per city rider caps are as follows: Metro Manila will have 45,000; Metro Cebu, 9,000; and Cagayan de Oro, 9,000.
In addition, the rider cap will be flexible depending on the MC Taxi service provider.
"To add it all, magkakaroon tayo ng 63,000 na cap ngayon. But then hindi naman po 'yan limited lang (There will be a 63,000 rider cap now but that is not limited) as what the Secretary explained to Angkas. Because in the implementing rules and regulations, nakasaad po dun na (it is stated there that) there is a 'redistribution' provision," said TWG Chief, Antonio Gardiola, Jr..
Explaining further, the TWG chief stated, "Ang ibig pong sabihin nito, kung hindi kaya ng isang (What this means is that if one player incapable...) player to come up with the number of rider, ibibigay po 'yun sa company na (...it will be given to another service provider that is...) ready and have that number of riders."
As such, the rider cap per MC Taxi service provider can be redistributed to another that is ready and able, so long as the citywide cap is not breached.
"Everybody wants to make it work for the riding community. Talaga pong excited kami sa pilot at makipag-tulungan sa gobyerno. (We're excited to help the government) And hopefully we can get the success with the pilot study for the necessary law to be passed," Angkas Regulatory and Public Affairs head George Royeca said in the joint press conference with the TWG, following the hearing.
This announcement was made by House Transportation Committee Chair, Edgar Mary Sarmiento of Samar today, after an executive session with the Department of Transportation’s Motorcycle Taxi Technical Working Group (MC Taxi TWG) and stakeholders of motorcycle taxi firms.
The city of Cagayan de Oro, initially not part of the Pilot Run program for motorcycle taxis, will now be included in order for the study to cover Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The Pilot Run will study the safety and efficiency of motorcycle taxis as a mode of public transportation to aid future legislation.
Earlier this week, the MC Taxi TWG recommended to terminate the Motorcycle Taxi Pilot Run program, citing “legal rigmaroles” from Angkas, which had filed temporary restraining orders in two Metro Manila Regional Trial Courts to prevent the smaller rider cap from being implemented.
The MC Taxi TWG claimed it had difficulty in compiling data due to the larger number of riders with Angkas as opposed to the two newer players. Senators were not convinced by this claim and have called for additional meetings this week in order to discuss the Pilot Run Program and its provisions.
Earlier this month, the MC Taxi TWG announced the extension of the Pilot Run Program with the inclusion of two new motorcycle Transport Network Companies (TNC) starting December 23, 2019 up to March 23, 2020. The extended implementation has placed an overall allotted cap of 39,000 registered bikers, equating to 10,000 bikes per TNC for Metro Manila and 3,000 per TNC in Metro Cebu. Angkas, the leading MC Taxi service provider, stated that this new cap could potentially put 17,000 of its riders out of jobs.
