A hearing conducted on Wednesday, Jan. 22, by the House of Representatives has led to the resolution of key issues currently plaguing the government’s pilot study on motorcycle taxis.
During the public hearing, the House Committee on Transportation was able to formally convince the Technical Working Group (TWG) on motorcycle taxis to continue the pilot run and set aside its decision of termination that was announced last Monday at the counterpart Senate hearing.
The TWG is expected to complete the pilot study by March 2020, and other issues agreed upon include the implementation of a revised cap of the participants, and the expansion of the pilot areas to include Cagayan de Oro.
The cap on riders was also increased from the original 39,000 riders to 63,000, distributed as follows — 45,000 in Metro Manila while 9,000 each in Metro Cebu and Cagayan De Oro.
“To add it all, magkakaroon tayo ng 63,000 na cap ngayon. But then hindi naman po ‘yan limited lang as what the Secretary explained to Angkas. Because in the implementing rules and regulations, nakasaad po dun na there is a ‘redistribution’ provision,” said TWG chair Antonio Gardiola.
Explaining further, Gardiola added, “Ang ibig pong sabihin nito, kung hindi kaya ng isang player to come up with the number of rider, ibibigay po ‘yun sa company na ready and have that number of riders.”
At an interview after the hearing, George Royeca, regulatory and public affairs head of Angkas, said the players involved in the pilot test are eager “to make it work for the riding community.
“Talaga pong excited kami sa pilot at makipag-tulungan sa gobyerno. And hopefully we can get the success with the pilot study for the necessary law to be passed,” he said.
