MANILA, Philippines — One of the three players allowed to operate the motorcycle taxi business has asked Congress to legitimize the over 200,000 habal-habal drivers in Metro Manila by passing a law legalizing their operations.
Move It chairman Francis Juan yesterday said the government should legalize the operations of more than 200,000 habal-habal drivers in Metro Manila to protect them from the risk of getting caught by authorities.
Juan also said lawmakers can hasten the passage of a bill regulating motorcycle taxis to legitimize the two-wheeled vehicle as a public transport.
“These forgotten people need one thing, that is for the government to allow them to temporarily operate legally like Move It, Angkas and Joyride PH. Or for Congress to fast-track the passage of the bill legitimizing the motorcycle taxi business,” Juan said.
Juan said the Marcos administration should correct the mistakes of its predecessor in terms of regulating the motorcycle taxi segment. He proposed that instead of imposing a cap on the rider fleet of motorcycle taxi firms, the government should just open the business to as many players as possible.
“We missed the opportunity to adopt an inclusive policy by going with the restrictions and caps instead of open competition, but late as it is the government can and must do it,” Juan said.
“These habal-habal drivers need to earn without having to look over their shoulders,” he said.
The technical working group (TWG) overseeing motorcycle taxis had limited the segment to just Angkas before adding two additional participants under its pilot program.
The TWG allocated just 15,000 slots for each of the three players, namely, Angkas, JoyRide PH and Move It. However, since Angkas had a headstart in the field, it borrowed most of the slots directed for Move It, especially as the firm remains the smallest player in the competition.
Angkas is the leading player with at least 30,000 riders. When compared, Move It only has 1,000 riders as of August, although the firm looks to expand its manpower to 6,000 by the end of the year.
Move It hopes that its merger with Grab Philippines will provide it with the necessary capital to hire additional riders and, eventually, compete with the market leaders.
Last week, Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista also aired an appeal to legislators to pass a law on motorcycle taxis to standardize the safety protocols observed by industry players.