Imee Marcos disapproves of TRO on Angkas

Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos (Photo by RICHARD A. REYES / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos lamented on Sunday the temporary restraining order issued by the Supreme Court on ride-hailing company Angkas, saying it robbed Filipinos of a cheaper alternative to avoiding traffic.

“It robs working class Filipinos of a cheap way to get through horrendous traffic and prevents the creation of decent and quality jobs for Filipinos struggling to make a living,” Marcos said in a statement.

Marcos added that Angkas was a cheaper option than other transport services.

“Traffic is a major constraint to development especially for the poor since taxis and Transport Network Vehicle Services (TNVs) are too costly for them,” she said. “Angkas is a cheap and viable transport solution to millions of low-income Filipinos especially in dense urban areas since it provides cheap and fast point-to-point transportation.”

Marcos also said a service like Angkas could be set up with smaller capital, making it easier to start a business.

Since the service offered faster time travel for employees, it also gave them “access to more job opportunites,” Marcos said.

“An employee from Quezon City would not take a job in Pasay with a three-hour commute, but he could tolerate a much lesser travel time through Angkas,” she said.

Marcos also cited the another motorcycle application, Go-Jek, which has almost one million drivers in Jakarta, Indonesia.

She noted that Go-Jek provided commuters with cheaper fares and even forced ride-sharing company Grab in Singapore to improve its services. /atm