Osmeña supports habal-habal regulation

CEBU, Philippines — The country should recognize the presence of motorcycle-for-hire in the streets as the government cannot stop its operations.

This is the argument that Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña will deliver during today’s committee hearing of the pending bills regulating the habal-habal operations at House of Representatives in Quezon City.

“It’s based on the basic argument that we cannot stop habal-habal. If the national wants to do it, fine but I don’t like to do it. It’s impossible. But we can control it and we can make it work for the people,” he told reporters.

Osmeña was invited to attend the hearing spearheaded by the Committee on Transportation of the House of Representatives.

The hearing will discuss the Motorcycle Crime Prevention Act of 2017 which proposes bigger plates for motorcycles to prevent crimes and the proposed bills regulating motorcycle-for-hire or habal-habal operations.

Osmeña said he will personally attend the hearing to express his support on the regulation of the habal-habal drivers in the streets.

He will also express his support to the operation of Angkas which is an innovative system to monitor the motorcycle-for-hire.

Angkas is an online booking system for motorcycle-for-hire wherein commuters use a mobile application to book pick-up and drop-off locations for a fixed fare.

“Right now, habal-habal has a lot of abuse. You don’t know who you’re dealing with. The person is not screened. You don’t even know if he’s trained,” he said.

The mayor said it has been proven that Angkas drivers earn more compared to the ordinary habal-habal drivers.

Once the national government and the city will allow the operation of Angkas, Osmeña said these ordinary habal-habal drivers will join Angkas.

This means the people who find convenience in the operation of Angkas will be assured of their safety since Angkas drivers are identified, screened, and trained, he said.

“If you have a system like Angkas, all of those issues are precisely addressed. There will be no standby in the eskina because Angkas does not require terminals,” he said.

Osmeña said the law that does not recognize the operation of habal-habal should be amended stressing that pushing for its regulation in Congress is a good start. —MBG (FREEMAN)