Thousands of Angkas riders gather in QC to protest vs. 10k cap

Thousands of Angkas riders converged at White Plains in Quezon City on Sunday morning to stage a protest action against the government's decision to limit the number of their riders starting 2020.

The riders lamented the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board's decision to limit to 10,000 the number of Angkas riders who can ply routes in 2020, according to a report by Manny Vargas on Dobol B sa News TV aired on GMA News TV.

Libo-libong riders ng @angkas, nagtitipon-tipon sa bahagi ng Whiteplain, Quezon City bilang pagtutol sa nais ng @LTFRB na limitahan sa 10,000 Angkas riders na pwedeng bumiyahe simula 2020. | via @VargasMannysen . | via @VargasMannysen pic.twitter.com/7n6RbhckKj

— DZBB Super Radyo (@dzbb) December 21, 2019

The protest action, which they called a unity gathering, will feature a program at the EDSA Kalayaan Shrine, to be followed by a press conference.

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) inter-agency Technical Working Group (TWG) on motorcycle taxis on Friday extended the six-month pilot run of motorcycle ride-hailing operations, with the inclusion of two new players, JoyRide and Move It.

The present pilot run involving DBDOYC Inc.’s Angkas will end on December 26.

"Angkas, JoyRide, and Move It will participate in the Extended Pilot Implementation starting 23 December 2019 up to 23 March 2020 with an overall allotted cap of thirty-nine thousand (39,000) registered bikers — ten thousand (10,000) bikers per Transport Network Company (TNC) for Metro Manila and three thousand (3,000) bikers per TNC for Metro Cebu operations," according to the LTFRB.

Angkas on Saturday hit the TWG decision to put a cap on each of the three service providers in the extended pilot run of operations.

Angkas chief transport advocate George Royeca said, “Ngayon, sa halip na kami ay dagdagan, nagpasiya ang LTFRB [Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board] na bawasan pa ang Angkas bikers mula 27,000 hanggang 10,000 na lamang.”

“That’s a compromise to the quality of service you can expect, and A DIRECT BLOW TO 17,000 FILIPINO FAMILIES,” Royeca said. —KG, GMA News