Poe slams Grab over rate hike

Senator Grace Poe on Wednesday expressed her concern over Grab's commission rate hike, calling the move "unconscionable."

In a statement, Poe, who chairs the Senate Committee on Public Service, urged concerned government agencies to look into the transport network company's planned two-percent commission starting on 1 December.

"Concerned agencies should step in and look into the plan to impose a two-percent increase in the commission rate of a ride-hailing firm," she said. "This is unconscionable in the midst of economic hardships that Filipinos face to get through every day."

Poe lamented that drivers and riders should be given more social protection, instead of eating up a slice of their earnings.

"Every peso that drivers and riders earn comes from hard work poured to bring passengers home or delivery parcels right at our doorsteps," she said. "As vital frontliners in the service sector, riders and drivers have helped keep the local economy going. They, too, long for an easy ride."

Poe's remark came as the country's inflation rate accelerated to 7.7 percent in October from 6.9 percent in September, the highest recorded inflation since December 2008.