MANILA – The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) will start impounding motorcycles-for-hire or motorcycle taxi next week.
LTFRB board member Antonio Gardiola Jr. said Monday they have recommended the termination of the pilot study meant to assess the safety of bikes for public transport.
“It’s really very significant but then it’s also half of the three months ‘yung study natin, we cannot gather data because of the legal impediments,” Gardiola said at the Senate.
“We are resorting to legal rigmarole sa nangyayaring ito. Bale, nagfile sila ng kaso na nai-impede ang study…We cannot gather data because of actions being undertaken on one of the players so it is better to terminate it,” he added.
Gardional, who heads the technical working group (TWG) for the motorcycle taxi’s pilot run, said that the motorcycle taxis will be deemed “illegal.”
Meanwhile, some Senators have questioned the recommendation of the TWG under the
Department of Transportation (DOTr) to terminate the pilot program for motorcycle taxis as the move appears to be just an act of revenge.
“Ngayon may hearing tayo, may dokumento ngayon kayo ngayon na nagsasabi itigil na namin ito (pilot study), at ‘pag binasa ko ‘yung dokumento parang napakatindi ng galit ninyo,” Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said.
Recto also slammed what he called TWG’s “arbitrariness” on imposing a 10,000 bikers limit for each motorcycle-hailing firm participating in the pilot study.
“Lumalabas din na kulang ang public consultation din ninyo kaya kayo na-TRO ng korte, ‘yun ang dahilan. Tapos dahil na-TRO kayo, galit naman ang pinapakita ninyo,” Recto said.
“Maliwanag sa dokumentong ito eh, puro galit din e. Dahil nag-rally laban sa inyo, galit na kaagad kayo. Kulang kayo sa public consultation eh, ‘yan ang problema ninyo,” he added.
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian echoed Recto’s sentiment saying that he could not see the basis of TWG’s recommendation to terminate the pilot testing on motorcycle taxis.
“Wala ho kasing basehan ‘tong lahat eh at narinig niyo naman po ‘yung sinabi ng ating mga senador at lahat ho kami sumasangayon na hindi ho tama itong resolusyon na ginawa ho ninyo dahil kawawa at nagdudusa ho ang ating mga pasahero,” Gatchalian said.
In June last year, a six-month pilot run was approved to help Congress further evaluate pending bills seeking to legalize the use of motorcycles as public utility vehicles. It should originally set to end on December 26, 2019, but was extended until March 23, 2020./PN
