Angkas files for employee retrenchment amid crisis

Motorcycle taxi ride-hailing firm Angkas, despite adopting operational measures by reducing work hours and cutting the basic pay of employees to sustain financial obligations, could be in serious financial trouble, documents showed Friday.

Angkas filed a staff retrenchment notice with the Department of Labor and Employment because of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Singapore-owned company, which earlier this year tried to tweak its ownership structure after regulators and members of Congress noted “serious violations” of the terms of the pilot study for motorcycle taxis, closed some of its offices in Metro Manila and other cities to reduce overhead expenses amid compounding losses.

The company issued a memorandum signed by Cynthia Esquida, human resources and administrative manager of DBDOYC Inc., the parent company of the brand Angkas, informing personnel about the filing of a retrenchment notice with the DOLE and reduction of workforce under ID number 235490.

Some staff from different departments were given the pink slip after agreeing to receive compensation packages.

But some employees were stunned by the retrenchment process, saying the move was not consistent with the company’s strategy of spending huge amounts of operating expenses on ineffective advertising and public relations activities.

Retrenched Angkas employees also questioned the company’s alleged high-profile spending projects without taking into consideration the welfare of the rank and file. With the financial predicament Angkas is facing, the fate of more than 27,000 motorcycle drivers are now uncertain even as the MC taxi service is about to resume.