Motorcycle taxi — INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — A transport group urged the government to regulate motorcycle taxis, citing their supposed impact on other public utility vehicles and questioning passenger safety.
In a statement on Friday, Nov. 15, the Alliance of Transport Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines (ALTODAP) said it observed a “surge” in the number of motorcycle taxis in Metro Manila.
The organization called on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and House Speaker Martin Romualdez to regulate motor taxis, claiming that the major transport group is losing half of its daily income.
ALTODAP President Boy Vargas said, “Hindi lang ito usapin ng epekto sa kita ng mga transport groups. Ito din ay issue ng trapik at kaligtasan ng mga pasahero, lalo na at marami din sa mga motorsiklong ito ay iligal na namamasada.”
(This is not just about their effect on the income of transport groups. This is also about the issue of traffic and passenger safety, especially since many of these motorcycles are illegally operating.)
Last May, the Land Transportation, Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) approved four more companies to join its five-year motorcycle taxi pilot program, bringing the total number of firms in the undertaking to seven.
READ: LTFRB approves four more motorcycle taxi firms
The group called on the LTFRB to stop allowing more motorcycle taxis to operate, urging “thorough consultations with stakeholders.”
Vargas asked, “Kung pilot study pa lang, bakit ang dami na at hindi na makontrol? Hindi ba dapat kung pinag-aaralan pa lang ay dapat kontrolado ang bilang ng mga ito?”
(If this is just a pilot study, why is it that there are already lot of them, and they cannot be controlled anymore? Shouldn’t the number of motor taxis be under control since it is still being studied?)
READ: House OKs motorcycle taxis bill
Last July, the House of Representatives passed a bill recognizing motorcycle taxis as public utility vehicles, tasking the Land Transportation Office to handle the registration and for the LTFRB to regulate the franchises.