By Gabriela Baron
The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) on Wednesday, May 24, urged “habal-habal” operators to register their vehicles once the motorcycle (MC) taxi law is passed.
The LTFRB’s MC Taxi Technical Working Group (TWG) said it will encourage “habal-habal” operators, particularly in the provinces, to join the pilot study for MC taxis.
Once included, they can now be regulated and will benefit from the program, especially when the proposed legislation to allow motorcycles to operate as “for hire” is passed in Congress.
“Once they are part of the program, they will be regulated and will be trained in the aspects of proper operations, particularly in improving their driving skills through more advanced driver training,” LTFRB Chairperson Atty. Teofilo Guadiz III said.
“That way, they can operate safely and securely, which will ultimately benefit the riding public,” Guadiz added.
The option of encouraging “habal-habal” in the provinces to join the program was proposed by Sen. Raffy Tulfo during the hearing called by the Senate Committee on Public Services chaired by Sen. Grace Poe.
“We listened to the wisdom of the Senate and appreciate their inputs on how the public transportation system in the country can be further improved with the possible entry of MC taxis,” Guadiz said.
Guadiz noted the TWG will also look at expanding the MC taxi pilot study to other areas in the country.
Aside from that, the TWG is also looking into the possibility of adding more participants to the study and increase the allocated cap for the number of riders among the three Transport Network Companies (TNCs) that participated in the pilot study.
The TNCs that participated in the pilot study are Angkas, JoyRide, and Move It.
In 2019, Congress authorized and required the Department of Transportation to conduct the MC Taxi Pilot Study to determine if a motorcycle taxi is feasible, safe, and should be legalized as a means of public transportation in the Philippines.
The study initially covered Metro Manila and Metro Cebu.
-ag
