President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the government has been collaborating with Grab Philippines to legalize motorcycle taxis and relax regulations on transportation network vehicle services in the country.

During a courtesy call by top executives of Grab Holdings Inc., led by chief executive officer Anthony Tan, in Malacañang earlier this week, Marcos said the collaboration aims to expand transportation options and would benefit commuters, drivers, and micro, small and medium enterprises.

The President acknowledged Grab’s significant impact on employment as the company offers ride-hailing, food and parcel delivery, digital payments, and financial services that need more and more riders.

“Your impact on the unemployment numbers comprises about 1.1 percent of the increase in employment in the past year and half,” Marcos told Tan.

“That’s Grab, so that’s the 300,000 that we’re talking about, that has a significant effect. Actually, there are upstreams and downstreams that come with it, so yeah, there are jobs created, not only the actual operators,” Marcos said.

In response, Tan highlighted Grab’s positive impact on both the quantity and quality of jobs created when they acquired the moto-taxi service Move It.

Tan told the story of a former habal-habal driver who worked for 10 years, earning between P500 and P700 daily. Now, he makes three times as much with Grab, or between P1,500 and P2,500 a day.

“So, it’s not just about the number of jobs, Mr. President. It’s the quality and the increasing livelihood,” Tan said.

Tan said that Grab can achieve the 300,000 level of ridership in six months with the President’s backing.

Last year, Grab suggested that motorcycle taxis be legal and the transport network vehicle services be deregulated.