Hatchback drivers ask Grab to let them operate outside 14 areas in Metro Manila

MANILA, Philippines — Hatchback drivers under Grab have cried foul against their supposed “disenfranchisement,” as the ride-hailing giant continues to limit the areas where they can operate.

On Wednesday, Metro Manila Hatchback Community (MMHC) board member Mario Barcelon said that around 500 hatchback drivers were being barred from plying their routes outside 14 areas in Metro Manila.

These were Makati, Cubao, San Juan, White Plains, Ugong Norte in Pasig, Ortigas, Mandaluyong, Pasay, Baclaran, Newport Area, Malate, Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Fort Bonifacio and Pateros.

“It’s like we’re no better than tricycles,” Barcelon said. “We’re like point-to-point buses. This is too experimental. We don’t understand the logic why they would limit the places where we could drive.”

Under a dry run that started in November, hatchback drivers returned to Grab which earlier took them off the platform after the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) asserted that subcompact cars were not safe for public transport.

The LTFRB, however, later  issued Memorandum Circular (MC) No. 2019-042 that formally classified hatchbacks as transport network vehicle services  and allowed them to operate in Metro Manila.

Although the memorandum set lower fares for hatchbacks, it did not require Grab and other transport network companies to limit their areas of operation.

The group has asked Grab to remove the service area limits, which have boxed them in “low-fare and traffic-congested places that have cut down our take-home profits.”

“While not directly phasing out our units, this policy forcibly pushes us away from our livelihoods,” MMHC and Defend Job Philippines said in a joint statement.

They also urged the LTFRB to compel Grab to enforce in totality MC 2019-042, “and (for Grab) not to be selective in implementing what was stated in government rules and policies.”

Grab declined to comment when contacted by the Inquirer.