MANILA: The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) is looking to award 8,000 motorcycle (MC) taxi slots outside the National Capital Region (NCR).
In a press conference at the LTFRB headquarters in Quezon City on Monday, Chair Teofilo Guadiz III said the decision was made by Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista and the House of Representatives’ Committee on Metro Manila Development.
‘I am meeting the TNC (transport network company) operators to propose to them now that the slots will be given to areas outside Metro Manila like Regions 3 (Central Luzon) and 4 (Calabarzon and Mimaropa), and then Region 7 (Central Visayas) — specifically Cebu — and Region 11, which is Davao,’ Guadiz said.
The decision was arrived at after the Coalition of Transport Sectors appealed to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to stop the expansion of the MC taxi study in NCR due to its adverse effects on traffic.
Initially, Guadiz said the 8,000 slots were supposed to be awarded to four new MC taxi compani
es in NCR to expand the current players in the study — Angkas, JoyRide, and Move It.
‘Ang kagustuhan namin sana ay dito muna (What we wanted is for the additional slots to be awarded within Metro Manila) because this is just a pilot study,’ he said. ‘We would like to see exactly the saturation point before we can say that there is ample supply of MC taxis.’
In deference to the House committee and Bautista, Guadiz said all 8,000 slots will be outside of Metro Manila.
Guadiz also debunked allegations of irregularities in the awarding of slots, emphasizing that the pilot study is handled by the MC Taxi Technical Working Group, composed of the LTFRB, Land Transportation Office, Office of Transportation Cooperatives and the Department of Transportation.
‘The last person to sign the resolution is the chairman of the LTFRB. So, the allegation of irregularities is highly suspicious and preposterous. Never po ako nagkaroon ng hand dito (I’ve never had a hand in this),’ he said.
To date, he said TNCs that will re
ceive the 8,000 slots are completing their applications.
They have until April 15 to complete their allocations.
‘We’re still in the process of vetting or evaluating the application. But the order is it’s effective immediately. So, the moment we award the slots, they will be outside Metro Manila,’ he said.
Earlier, Bautista announced that there will be no more additional units of MC taxis allowed to operate within NCR following opposition from transport groups.
Source: Philippines News Agency