DAVAO City Councilor Conrado Baluran, chair of the Committee on Transportation and Communications, endorses two homegrown motorcycle ride-hailing services to operate in the city, during the 35th regular session on Tuesday morning, September 19, at the Sangguniang Panlungsod.
Baluran told SunStar Davao in an ambush interview that the purpose of these two motorcycle ride-hailing services is to accommodate graveyard workers, especially at midnight when there is almost no public transportation available.
He said that once it is approved by the Department of Transportation (DOTr) it will be a big help to passengers as they will only need to contact the drivers through the app.
However, under the law, this type of transportation is not allowed.
“Ang atoang himuon lang dinhi is more on support sa ilang application sa Manila kay ang Manila man gyud ang mag-approve ani (What we are going to do is support their application in Manila, since Manila will be the one that will approve their application),” Baluran said.
He added that since the 20th City Council cannot approve the two apps, they can only endorse their application. He said once the resolution is approved in the 35th regular session, the committee on transportation and communications will issue an endorsement recommending their application.
Meanwhile, during the committee meeting with the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board-Davao Region (LTFRB-Davao) Legal Section Lawyer Deanne Salcedo, Land Transportation Office-Davao Region (LTO-Davao Region) Chief Legal Council Lawyer Loida D. Igdanez and Davao Tourism Council President Cherry Faye B. Al-ag stressed their support for both apps as it will provide multiple opportunities to Dabawenyos.
Baluran is hopeful that the main office of DOTr will approve the operation of the two apps in Davao since it has done so in thriving cities in Luzon.
Based on the committee hearing, the target passengers of both ride-hailing apps are those working in the wee hours to ease their burden of commuting.
Baluran said that although the habal-habal or motorcycle that is used for public transportation already exists here in the city, these two apps are a way to legalize them because in this way drivers will get a permit, thus protecting the welfare of the passengers.
In terms of safety, the two ride-hailing apps are registered and all of the riders will also be registered to be able to monitor them.
However, Baluran raised his concern that the app might be used for illegal purposes, hence he said he would intensively keep an eye on it.
The two motorcycle ride-hailing services are Sakay Deliver Services owned by Ragde Nino P. Ibuyan and the E-Ran Online Delivery and Emergency Services, Inc. owned by Rannie Amora-Nadela. Both offer their services 24/7 and are an online-enabled transportation service (OETS), which connects registered passengers who request trips with available motor vehicles using a digital technology platform. RGP