The House of Representatives Committee on Transportation on Monday began public hearings on measures intended to legalize and regulate motorcycle taxis, with several lawmakers backing legislation that will ensure the safety of commuters while generating additional employment and livelihood opportunities.
Antipolo Rep. Romeo Acop said the panel discussed several bills that seek to regulate motorcycles-for-hire, and invited resource persons from national agencies, ride-hailing services, and non-government organizations to provide inputs on the proposed law.
Batangas Rep. Ralph Recto who filed House Bill 2833, noted that “in recent years, motorcycles-for hire also known as habal-habal, have been considered the fastest means of transportation, particularly amidst traffic congestion in urban areas like Metro Manila.”
According to Cebu Rep. Rachel Marguerite Del Mar, author of HB 128, a law regulating motorcycle “will resolve the existing inadequacies in our laws and shall promote the safety and welfare of people who patronage motorcycles-for hire.”
The bill, like similar measures, will require two-wheeled motor vehicles to register with the Land Transportation Office (LTO) so that they can be used commercially to transport passengers and goods.
Registration, Del Mar emphasized, “will ensure that operators and drivers will be held responsible for the negligent operation of their motorcycles. The same will likewise prevent abuse from owners, operators and drivers, thus ensuring low-cost transportation.”
The explanatory note of HB 307– authored by Camarines Sur congressmen Luis Raymond Villafuerte, Miguel Luis Villafuerte and Tsuyoshi Anthony Horibata, as well as Bicol Saro party list Rep. Nicolas Enciso VIII, stated that experiences in other countries have shown that legalizing motorcycle taxis would also help provide jobs for the unemployed.
“Globally, motorcycle ride-hailing apps have been emerging in cities like Indonesia, Thailand, India, Paris, and in East Africa, where the apps have been a key in making motorcycle taxi rides safer,” said the Bicolano legislators.
“In Jakarta, motorcycle taxis have help driven unemployment rates downward as the ride hailing apps attract many Indonesians to join as drivers.”
In Metro Manila alone, more than 40,000 motorcycle riders are employed by three different transport network companies. In the absence of a law regulating them, motorcycles for hire have been allowed to operate under a pilot program supervised by the Department of Transportation’s motorcycle taxi technical working group.