A transport advocacy group has called on lawmakers to act on bills pushing to legalize motorcycle taxis as it said that the move will help the commuters deal with the current transportation crisis.
In a statement, The Passenger Forum convener Primo Morillo said motorcycle taxis promise to provide a much-needed supply of public transport options at a time when there is an apparent deficit, pointing out that similar measures were pushed in the 18th Congress through the efforts of almost 20 authors in the House and Senate Public Services Committee “but ultimately languished.”
Some operators and drivers decided to stop hitting the road as a result of the series of big-time oil price hikes even as the group hoped that the 19th Congress will act swiftly as commuters need “all the help we can get with the current situation of our public transport.”
TPF convenor Primo Morillo further said the proposal will also help the government’s job generation program without costing much and widen the tax base.
“We’ve also read and we support Senator JV Ejercito’s SB167,” said Morillo, adding commuting workers will get to their places of “work faster, thousands of riders will have jobs, and the government will receive the taxes from all these transactions.”
