Angkas riders get 72-hour halt order vs LTFRB cap
MANILA, Philippines — Drivers of motorcycle taxi-hailing app Angkas secured a 72-hour halt order against the government’s 10,000-drivers cap from a Mandaluyong court.
News5 reported that Mandaluyong Regional Trial Court Acting Executive Judge Ofelia Calo issued a 72-hour restraining order on the cap or limit placed by an interagency Technical Working Group for the extended pilot run of motorcycle taxis.
Pinagbigyan ng Mandaluyong City Regional Trial Court ang 72-hour temporary restraining order sa ipinataw na cap ng LTFRB technical working group sa motorcycle taxis. pic.twitter.com/5vR5lmd5ce
— News5 AKSYON (@News5AKSYON) January 6, 2020
The TRO enjoins the working group from implementing the Revised General Guidelines for the Implementation of Motorcycle Taxis, “insofar as it puts a cap on the number of bikers that Angkas is entitled to and from performing any act that limits and impairs their rights to deal with and continue with their contracts with Angkas.”
The halt order is issued upon posting a bond of P300,000.
READ: Angkas has foreign ownership issues – TWG
The court stressed that a TRO is only issued in instances of “extreme urgency that grave injustice and irreparable injury would arise.”
Calo, in her order, said that at the initial stage of proceedings of the petition filed by Angkas drivers, “there is urgency in the issuance of a 72-hour TRO.”
The order read: “Otherwise, with the implementation of the LTFRB’s Revised General Guidelines for the Pilot Implementation of Motorcycle Taxis, 17,000 Angkas riders who have been earlier accredited by Angkas and allowed to participate in the pilot implementation will suffer grave irreparable injury as they would lose their jobs.”
The LTFRB announced last month that 10,000 slots are allotted respectively to Move It, Angkas and Joyride—the three companies joining the second phase of the pilot test for motorcycle taxis.
Angkas—the sole service provider in the initial six-month-trial—said the cap imposed by the TWG will displace its 17,000 riders.
The announcement triggered backlash from the public and prompted thousands Angkas biker-partners to protest at the EDSA Kalayaan Shrine last December 22.
On early Monday, Move It told ABS-CBN News Channel that displaced Angkas riders are welcome to join them.
Eric Torres, the company’s operations manager, said Move It has around 2,500 registered drivers and 500 riders already on the road. They are also processing 6,500 applicants before the end of deadline to register riders next week. — Kristine Joy Patag with reports from Gaea Katreena Cabico
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