“They resigned from their work and decided to do full time in Move It. Now, where will they go?”

CAGAYAN DE ORO — Anthony Berdon, 22, ventured to Cagayan de Oro just over a couple of months ago despite having no relatives in the city, courageously taking the advice of a friend to make a living by becoming a motorcycle taxi rider for ride-hailing platform Move It. He’s from Dapitan City in Zamboanga del Norte.

However, Berdon’s dream for a better life in the city won’t last once the pending order issued by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) directing Move It to cease its operation in Cebu and Cagayan de Oro is approved and implemented. 

“I have no choice but to go home,” he told Bulatlat when asked of his plans if the LTFRB order will take effect.

Move It is one of the three ride-hailing platforms, along with Angkas and Joyride, that are part of the pilot implementation of the motorcycle taxi program in the country. 

Not just Berdon, but thousands of Move It riders will lose their jobs if the Department of Transportation (DOTr) decides to uphold the assertion of LTFRB and the Motorcycle Taxi Technical Working Group (TWG). Apart from ordering the transport firm to halt its Cebu and Cagayan de Oro operations, it will also be directed to reduce its active riders from 14,000 to over 6,000 within Metro Manila and impose a one-year temporary moratorium on the onboarding of its new riders.

Read: Motorcycle riders protest vs. temporary restraining order

The order stemmed from Move It’s alleged violation of the riders’ cap allocation for motorcycle taxis and alleged failure to report riders’ activation, deactivation, and reactivation. 

The firm, which now has over 14,000 riders in Metro Manila, has only been reportedly authorized to operate in the said region with 6,386 riders based on its submitted masterlist to the TWG. In addition, there has been no authorization allegedly granted to Move It to operate in the areas of Cebu and Cagayan de Oro.

The DOTr has yet to implement this order as it has been reviewing the appeal filed by the transport company.

Chris Canizares, a Move It rider and chairperson of Hero Riders of Cagayan de Oro, urged the Philippine government to come up with a final decision without them, especially their families, bearing the brunt. “If there are violations committed by Move It, why can’t they file monetary penalties, maybe?” he told Bulatlat.

He pointed out that the national government has been expressing concerns about the country’s unemployment rate, yet it has an order that would discontinue thousands of workers’ jobs.

Canizares said not all members of their community are round-the-clock motorcycle taxi riders. Several of them have full-time work from other companies, and they have been treating their work with these ride-hailing apps as a side hustle to keep up with the rising prices of basic goods. He expressed concerns to those who are working as full time riders.

“They resigned from their work and decided to do full-time with Move It. Now, where will they go?” Canizares said, referring to riders who quit their full-time work after seeing the potential to earn more in the motorcycle taxi industry.

In Cagayan de Oro, the current minimum wage in the non-agricultural sector stands at P461. With this, economic think tank IBON Foundation noted a 6.5 percent wage gap from the P1,230 family living wage for a family of five in the Northern Mindanao region.

Read: Unstable platforms: How the ‘gig economy’ is pushing workers off the edge

The 22-year-old Berdon told Bulatlat that he has no other job aside from being a motorcycle taxi rider. For an eight-hour ride accepting passenger bookings, he normally earns more or less P1,000, although this amount is not enough, as he has been sending money to his family in Dapitan City and ensuring his monthly financial obligation on his motorcycle.

He expressed hope that their operation won’t cease, emphasizing how difficult it is to find a job nowadays.
On May 16, the Motorcycle Taxi Community Alliance staged a protest in Manila, calling on the DOTr to release its decision. “Habang tumatagal, hindi na namin alam kung saan kami pupulutin (As time goes on, we don’t know where this would leave us),” Romeo Maglunsod, the group’s chairperson, told reporters in an interview. (RTS, RVO)