Angkas riders, supporters mass up at Mendiola to protest ‘disenfranchisement’

More than 2,000 riders of motorcycle taxi service provider Angkas and their supporters trooped Mendiola in Manila on Friday morning to protest against the supposed impending "disenfranchisement" of 17,000 bikers of the app-based ride-hailing firm due to the cap set by the Department of Transportation's (DOTr) inter-agency Technical Working Group (TWG).

According to Isa Avendaño-Umali on Balitanghali said Angkas riders were also protesting the threat of the TWG that the pilot run of motorcycle taxi operations would no longer be extended after it ended in March 2020.

Fred Colipano, one of the protesting Angkas riders, said they would just return to the colorum "habal-habal" service if they were disenfranchised.

Colipano said competitors such as JoyRide and Move It were welcome.

He said riders were appealing to the government to recognize motorcycle taxis and outline new regulations which would benefit both riders and commuters.

For his part, Motorcycle Rights Organization's Don Pangan said their group's participation in Angkas riders' rally aimed to bring their sector's sentiment to President Rodrigo Duterte that motorcycle taxi services was an honorable job.

Pangan added that Angkas riders' and supporting organizations' rally would be followed by another massive rally on January 5, 2020 at the Senate to call on lawmakers to legalize motorcycle taxis.

The DOTr's TWG last week extended the six-month pilot run of motorcycle ride-hailing operations for another three month. This includes Angkas and the two new players.

The inter-agency group, however, allotted a cap of 39,000 registered bikers — 10,000 bikers per Transport Network Company (TNC) for Metro Manila and 3,000 bikers per TNC for Metro Cebu operations.

Angkas, which currently has 27,000 riders on its platform, will have to share the 30,000 cap with two other platforms JoyRide and Move It.

Angkas has since slammed the move to put a cap on riders and even accused the TWG of corruption. —Ted Cordero/NB, GMA News