THE United Davao Delivery Riders Association (Uddra) has urged Davao City officials, including Mayor Sebastian 'Baste' Duterte, to exempt delivery riders from business permit requirements.
On Tuesday morning, November 5, 2024, Uddra representatives made their appeal outside the Sangguniang Panlungsod in Davao City.
Eduardo Quijano, a Grab delivery rider and Uddra spokesperson, stated in a media interview that they are advocating for the revocation of the business permit requirement for delivery riders. He emphasized that this initiative has been in the works since January 2024.
"Karun among ginahanyu ang mga opisyal, mga councilor sa atoang dakbayan sa Davao na ma revoke ang atoang business permit, firsty, dili man me tag-iya sa Grab, we do not own anything sa Grab (We are appealing to the officials and councilors of our city, Davao, to revoke our business permit. Firstly, we are not owners of Grab; we do not own anything in Grab)," he said.
Quijano noted that he received consent from Grab to form an association and pursue this permit revocation. He explained that delivery riders currently face fees of approximately P3,397, which is set to increase by 25 percent in 2025—a significant burden for them.
He said that the capital listed in their business permits often reflects the value of their vehicles, ranging from P50,000 to P70,000. Most riders, however, have only made down payments of P5,000 to P8,000 on their loans.
Quijano referenced recent Supreme Court decisions, including Ditiangkin et al. versus Lazada (2022) and Fuentes et al. versus Lazada E-Services (2023), which state that delivery riders are not considered business owners or partners. Uddra argues that riders use platforms to facilitate their work and seeks to align Davao City’s regulations with those of Metro Manila and Cebu, where delivery riders are not required to obtain business permits.
Miguelito R. Royo, a delivery rider for Maxim since 2021, shared that, unlike Grab, Maxim now requires its riders to secure a business permit to continue working. He expressed concern about the 25 percent increase in fees for the following year, especially since their daily earnings typically hover around P500.
“Kaya lang yung kinikita talaga ang problema sa Maxim yung kinikita namin, kasi hindi naman kalakihan ang kinikita namin bawat araw, depende lang yun kung may booking na malaki minsan na i-scam pa nga (Our income at Maxim is a concern because we don’t earn a lot each day. It really depends on whether we get larger bookings, and sometimes we even get scammed),” he said.
Earlier, Councilor Pilar Braga voiced her support for the delivery riders, stating that the permit requirement could threaten their livelihoods and misrepresent the nature of their work.
Uddra also intends to draft a position letter advocating amendments to the 2021 Revenue Code following a committee hearing on April 19. They plan to submit this letter to the city council next week.
Additionally, Councilor Bernie Al-ag proposed repealing the ordinance that mandates delivery riders to obtain business permits during his privilege speech on January 23, 2024. RGP
