Sen. Grace Poe (Photo by CATHY MIRANDA / INQUIRER.net)
The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) should ensure that services of transport network vehicle services (TNVS) to commuters would not be disrupted, Sen. Grace Poe said Monday after Uber announced the merging of its Southeast Asia operations with Grab.
“Although this is a business decision which should ultimately be settled between Grab and Uber, it is still imbued with public interest,” Poe said in statement. “We all know that thousands of commuters rely on TNVS to ferry them to work and other places of destination.”
“So the most important thing is that service to our commuters will not be disrupted,” she added. “In this connection, LTFRB should ensure that the number of available vehicles to serve the public should at least be maintained and that the only change effected would be the ownership issue and not the service convenience and availability.”
Poe, who chairs the Senate Committee on Public Services, admitted that it would be ideal if there could be “more players in the market.”
She said the departure of Uber in the Philippines could perhaps open up the TNVS market for the entry of local companies.
Uber earlier confirmed the merging of its Southeast Asia operations with Grab.
In a statement, Uber said its service would continue to be accessible only until April 8. All booking requests beyond April 8 could be made from the Grab application. /atm