Oro netizens rant as govt hits Angkas

By DAVE ACHONDO
Staff member
and JIGGER J. JERUSALEM
Correspondent

NETIZENS and ride-sharing app users in Cagayan de Oro grumbled about the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board’s crackdown on Angkas motorcycle taxis that started over the weekend, calling the move “anti-poor.”

Aminoden Guro, LTFRB regional director, said at least six Angkas-accredited motorcycles were seized here based on orders of LTFRB chairman Martin Delgra III.

“I was instructed by the chairman (Delgra) to conduct the operation, apprehend and impound,” Guro said.

The apprehensions started on Dec. 23, 2019, he said.

Guro said they will go after Angkas-affiliated riders if they continue to operate in spite of the order.

The LTFRB move did not sit well with ride-sharing app users, particularly commuters and Angkas motorcycle taxi drivers.

Netizens sharply criticized the LTFRB and accused officials of double standard given their seeming leniency toward “colorum” or illegally-operated taxis, habal-habal, and trike cabs known here as “dulog” or “bao-bao.”

“Kumusta ang mga kolorum nga taxi?” asked one netizen in a post.

Angkas drivers in the city said they were left jobless after the Angkas app was disabled here over the weekend.

Auilino Pauline Tulabing Jr., a father of three children and a full-time Angkas motorycle driver, complained: ”Akong anak Grade 1,2 ug 3. Kani lang among gikuhaan sa tanan. Apektado among pamugas ug mga galastohan sa school sa akong mga anak. Malipay ko kong mabalik dayon ang angkas. Ang Angkas nga trabaho dili makadato, pinobre ra kaayo. Antoson namo ang init ug ulan, usahay bilar, antuson ang kakapoy sa pag-drive sa motor aron lang makapalit ug bugas para sa akong mga anak.”

Student Joefrey Alcaba, who works as an Angkas motorcycle driver, said he was very disappointed with the government.

Alcaba said, ”Dako kaayo ug epekto para sa ako nga giwala ang Angkas because isa man gyud ni nganung naka skwela ko kay tungod aning Angkas, kay ang ako ra gyud gisaligan para sa ako tuition is dinhi ra gyud naka salalay sa Angkas. Unsaon nalang nako pag continue ug skwela?”

Another, Ronald Aba-a, shared a similar view and ranted: ”Dako kaayo ang pagkadismaya ug dako kaayo pagka apekto sa akoa ug sa ako pamilya ang pagkawala ni Angkas diri sa CDO. Labi na jud kay full-time Angkas biker ko. Mao ra jud ni akoa main source sa income kay nag resign ko sa trabaho kay gi-pili naku ang Angkas. Pait kaayo halos mawad-an nami sa paglaum, maluoy unta ang naa sa kagamhanan nga tugutan mi diri sa CDO.”

Unlike the habal-habal, the ride-sharing app provides its passengers the following shower cap, surgical masked, helmet, and insurance for both passenger and driver. Its riders undergo rigorous driving and safety training before being a full-pledge member.

The LTFRB here said it was merely complying with the order of the Department of Transportation’s order.

According to the transportation department, Angkas was allowed to operate only in Metro Manila and Metro Cebu under the MC Taxi Pilot Study guidelines adopted by the agency’s Technical Working Group.

Guro said the LTFRB would continue confiscating Angkas motorcycles “if ever they will operate.”

Only those in Metro Manila and Cebu were given permits to operate for six months while the TWG is working on how to legalize Angkas, he said.

Before the apprehension, Guro said, he already reached out to the group behind Angkas in Cagayan de Oro and told them to cease its operation here.

“I advised and warned Jerome Angcono, Angkas-Cagayan de Oro manager, not to operate,” he said.

Under the current transport law, DOTR said, motorcycles are strictly prohibited from being used for public transportation, except the ongoing MC Pilot Study program being implemented by the TWG in the two metropolitan areas, which is being run to help Congress formulate a new law which would enable motorcycles to be considered as a new public transportation mode.

In a statement posted on its Facebook page on Dec. 21, 2019, Angkas appealed to the public for help, pointing out that 17,000 Angkas motorcycle drivers would become jobless due to the LTFRB crackdown.