Motorcycle taxis deemed illegal as DOTr-TWG terminates study

The Department of Transportation’s inter-agency Technical Working Group (TWG) on motorcycle taxis recommended Monday the termination of its study on motorcycle ride-hailing operations.

“We submitted our recommendation to Congress this morning. This was favorably endorsed by our secretary, Secretary Arthur Tugade,” TWG chairperson and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) Board Member Antonio Gardiola Jr told reporters ahead of the Senate hearing.

Gardiola, in explaining the reason for the termination, cited the legal case filed by one of the players.

“Parang magulo e. We are resorting to legal rigmarole sa nangyayaring ito. File sila ng kaso so nai-impede ang study. We cannot gather data because of actions being taken by one of the players so it is better to terminate it,” he said.

Because of the termination of the study, all motorcycle taxis will be considered illegal and will not be allowed to operate.

“Ilegal silang lahat kasi they are drawing their authority to run motorcycle because of the study. We know there is a law covering this, Republic Act 4136, it says that motorcycles are still considered as a private mode of transportation,” Gardiola said, adding they would start arresting violators next week.

“A week from now, we just submitted the report to Congress, we will start enforcement already,” he said.

Gardiola said the TWG is focusing on the safety issue and not on the commercial or livelihood side of the issue.

“Our focus is to come up with a recommendation to Congress to supposedly see if the motorcycle ride-hailing mode of transportation is safe. Yun lang. They are more on the economic side,” he said. —KBK, GMA News