Two motorcycles used for angkas service were impounded by the Land Transportation Office-Cordillera Administrative Region (LTO-CAR) on Feb. 22 after Mayor Benjamin Magalong sought the action of proper authorities on the proliferation of public utility vehicles without appropriate permits and franchises.
LTO-CAR Legal Officer Jessie Balagot said the driver’s license of the motorcycle riders were also confiscated, in a report to Engr. Thea Camiring of the City Engineering Office.
The mayor recently issued a warning to motorcycle riders offering angkas for a fee and taxi drivers using the InDrive application, saying he recommended to agencies the revocation of licenses and franchises of those using these unauthorized schemes.
The mayor earlier asked Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB) Regional Director Lalaine Sobremonte to act on the matter after receiving complaints from legitimate public utility vehicles losing clients due to angkas and InDrive taxi application.
The city government recommended licenses of drivers caught using these unregulated practices should be revoked, and that the franchises of these taxi units be cancelled.
In response, Sobremonte said motorcycle angkas is not safe, especially with Baguio’s uphill terrain.
In a Facebook post, LTFRB-CAR warned the public on the use of motorcycles operating as PUVs in the city.
“At present, there is no law allowing motorcycle taxis to ply the streets and carry commuters. Motorcycle taxis have yet to be officially legalized as a form of public transportation and are currently operating under a pilot study in Metro Manila and Metro Cebu. To date, there are no authorized motorcycle taxi operators in the city of Baguio. The riding public is urged to refrain from patronizing any individual and company providing motorcycle-for-hire services,” the LTFRB-CAR post reads.
Sobremonte added the agency is still waiting for the House of Representatives to pass a law amending provisions of the Land Transportation and Traffic Code.
Under the law, registered private motorcycles, scooters, or motor wheel attachments shall not be used for hire under any circumstances and shall not be used to solicit, accept, or be used to transport passengers or freight for pay.
Private vehicles do not have a certificate of public convenience required from PUVs by the LTFRB before they can operate as public utility vehicles.
The LTFRB also warned the public against patronizing the InDrive taxi app and Maxim, which were recently declared as colorum for offering transport network vehicle service without any accreditation as transport network companies.
InDrive operates in Baguio, Bacolod, Pampanga, Cebu, Iloilo, and Cagayan de Oro and sets fare prices through real-time bidding, with passengers giving a proposed fare and the driver making a counteroffer. – Jesssa Mardy P. Samidan
April 25, 2024
