Grab Philippines’ new country manager Ronald Roda, is on an urgent mission to make sure that stakeholders, namely Grab drivers, delivery partners and merchants, enjoy benefits from the company.

Making employees and partners contented is a philosophy that founder Anthony Tan has instilled since the superapp started.

In a roundtable interview at the DAILY TRIBUNE, Roda said that Grab leans towards providing the best care for associates and customers.

“Anthony (Tan) is so kind to our drivers that they should not be overlooked and aggrieved. That’s his mantra in putting up Grab. The kind where they don’t mind earning little as long as they’re not being taken advantage of,” he said.

Grab was founded in 2012 by Anthony Tan and Tan Hooi Ling in Malaysia. Originally known as GrabTaxi, the company started as a taxi-hailing service similar to Uber, which is now one of Grab’s stockholders.

It aimed to solve the problem of inefficient taxi services and provide a convenient and reliable way for passengers to book rides.

“I am in the give-back mode, and I think Grab has grown enough. We need to help out our drivers and restaurant partners, Because life is hard. So that’s what I have been working on recently,” Roda said.

Grab Philippines now onboard more than 150,000 drivers in all of its services such as Grab Car, Grab Delivery, and motorcycle taxi MoveIt.

Company breaks even

Roda revealed that after years of being in the country, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, it was only in the third quarter of last year when the superapp reaped revenues.

In terms of providing earnings to their drivers, he said the company only earns between 15 to 20 percent of the Grab Car and Move It fare, while 80 percent to 85 percent goes directly to the driver.

Its Singapore-based parent, revenues as of the third quarter of 2024 grew 17 percent from a year ago to $716 million, or 20 percent on a constant currency basis, driven by revenue growth across all segments.

On-demand gross merchandise value grew 15 percent year-on-year, or 18 percent on a constant currency basis, underpinned by 19 percent YoY growth in on-demand monthly transacting users and 22 percent increase in on-demand transactions.

Seasoned banker

Roda maintained that being a country manager is a herculean task, but he is thankful for his previous job as the bank manager of one of the Philippines’ largest banks, the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), which molded him into his new post.

After graduating from De La Salle University, Roda took a management trainee position at BPI as his first job.

“They made me run a branch in Kamuning Tomas Morato, the 21-year-old worst experience. “It was hard being a teller. On my first day, I lost P1,500 — a painful loss for me at the time, as my salary was only P20,000,” he recalled.

Roda, who held the chief operating officer post prior to his promotion, reminisced of being told that “If you can run a bank branch, then you can run anything” — a motivation that pushed him to accept the mammoth task when his predecessor, Grace Vera Cruz was elevated into a higher position as regional director of Grab.

Under Roda’s leadership, Grab expanded from eight to over 200 cities in 2018, reaching millions more Filipinos.

During the pandemic, when GrabCar was temporarily shut down, Roda quickly adapted, transforming the service into a more reliable and affordable option post-Covid.

In the first half of 2024, he was instrumental in creating over 72,000 livelihood opportunities, bringing the total to over 270,000 since 2023.

Roda recalled that Grab also made him experience how to be a delivery rider when he was just starting with the company.

“It’s hard to wait outside the restaurant for the customer’s order. I am sweating. The job is not a joke,” the Grab country manager, with an MBA degree at the University of the Philippines, recalled.

Making fares fair

Roda has been aware of the various backlashes they received over social media, including those in saying that their fares are tremendously high being a monopoly in the business, especially during peak season such as Christmas Season when almost all thoroughfares are in “carmageddon.”

“If we lower the fares, driver’s earnings will be slashed, too. What will happen is they cancel the customer’s booking. Our first principle of good service is to pay just compensation for our drivers, or else, all services will be lost.

Let’s take note that these drivers are also confronted with high gasoline prices, car amortizations and maintenance, among others. It would take them several trips to secure a good take-home pay. However, to be fair, our fares have gone down three to five percent per year for the past few years,” he explained.

Grab Philippines’ management has been taking the Christmas season as a challenge for its services, especially Grab Car, as traffic worsens, making the booking time for customers longer.

Based on their data, Grab Philippines experiences at least a 19 percent increase in daily transacting users for its ride-hailing services every last quarter of the year, with the number of ride bookings growing by up to 45 percent in the second and third weeks of December.

For its deliveries business, demand rose by 20 percent on key holiday dates, with a recent survey by the brand revealing that 44 percent of Grab Philippines users rely on the app for their festive meal deliveries.