20,000 Riders From Angkas Protest LTFRB’s 10,000 Rider-Cap
ANGKAS RIDERS PROTEST – The biggest motorcycle hailing firm in the Philippines went to the street with at least 20,000 riders in protest of LTFRB’s decision to limit the number of riders of Angkas to 10,000.
The motorcycle-hailing firm has about 27,000 riders under its employ. With the new policy of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board’s (LTFRB), more than half of its riders could be laid-off.
According to an article from Philstar, while the guidelines placed a 30,000 cap for the number of riders, LTFRB mandated that this would be divided among the three operators. This was done to prevent Angkas from gaining a monopoly with their service.
Along with the development, LTFRB stated that they reduced the number of Angkas riders to give way for drivers from Move It and JoyRide. With this decision, thousands of riders from Angkas lamented on the new development.
As per the article, Arnold Gonzaga, a father of two, said he relied on Angkas to support his family’s daily needs. He explained that he usually brings home about P1,000 daily depending on the number of passengers.
He feared that with the new policy, thousands of riders would lose their source of income. According to Angkas chief transport advocate George Royeca, there could be a possible corruption in the “anti-competition” guideline issued by the LTFRB.
The chief transport advocate told reporters that he believed there are “irregularities” in the new policy. However, the LTFRB said the exceeding number of riders in Angkas could be taken in by the other operators.
But, Royeca had a negative reaction to LTFRB’s statement. He said, “When you are forcing a driver to get out and reallocated to another, that is anti-competition. Yan ang ginagawa ng gobyerno“.
Royeca added that there is no rationale behind the new policy in reducing the number of riders from one operator and then adding them to another. He explained that Angkas is already running safe and that there was no need to give way for other players.
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